A Little More Lace
A back, a front and a sleeve!
I achieved another milestone on my lacy jacket: the left front is now finished and attached to the back via a three-needle bind off. I couldn't help but lay the completed pieces together to see what kind of impression they made. It's definitely beginning to look like a pretty lace jacket, even though that's hard to tell when it's sitting on a background of similar color.
In case anyone is wondering, the white edges on the pieces are from the crochet cast-on. I chose a white cotton yarn (fingering weight) so that it would be easy to deal with later on when I have to remove it and put on the picot edging that is the finishing trim.
Lacy 3-Needle Bindoff
Every time I do a three needle bind off, I wonder why I don't do it more often. It makes for such a nice clean seam. I like how the wave in the center seems to travel from the back to the front and almost distracts me from noticing the shoulder seem at all.
I will probably cast on the second sleeve next. It's a bigger piece of knitting than the right front and I think that will make the downhill momentum stronger. I think the real challenge in this garment is not going to be the lace (although it certainly requires a lot of attention) but the finishing work. Because the fabric is so gauzy, it's going to be important to seem very carefully, otherwise the seams will be too visible. One big question in my mind is whether I should try to seem the jacket with the Kidsilk Haze or whether I should try to find some silk embroidery thread that matches. The Kidsilk likes to stick to itself, which doesn't bode well for seaming, but it would also be the most difficult to detect.
In any event, I still have plenty of time to think about it. There are 11.5 intervals on the right front and 8 on the sleeve -- 20 more days to go at my tortoise pace of one interval/night.
Ooooh, that jacket is going to be so beautiful. Even on the blocking board it screams, "Take me to L'OPERA, Ms. Theresa!"
I say go with seaming with KSH. I'll admit, it does make for slightly sticky seaming and you may feel like you're seaming blindly because the stitches are so small, but in the end the seam looks invisible. If you use embroidery thread, it may behave differently than the KSH when washed, and it may affect the way the seam looks.
I agree with Becky !
Beautiful jacket.
Seam with the KidSilk Haze !
The jacket looks beautiful! Question... how difficult was it to figure if you were knitting to gauge?
Awesome. It looks quite ethereal on the blocking board.
i cant wait to see this ON... i think it's the kind of article that wont hafe full impact till it's being worn. still very very beautiful though! :)
Your jacket is going to be beautiful! Kidsilk Haze is such a nice yarn--cloudlike, incredibly soft (something, I've noticed, that mohair by itself really isn't).
I actually have a question about your blocking board, namely, where did you get it. I've been wanting to purchase one and can't decide if it's worth it. Right now I layer towels and cover them with a pillow case and block on that, using a tape measure. Any advice?
Holly - I'm sure Theresa will answer, but I'll just put in a good word for a blocking board. I used to be a layered-towel girl myself, and then Theresa's blog inspired me to get a blocking board (I'm a scientific type, so the idea of having *exact* measurements as laid out by the gridlines was too much to hold me back!). I love it! I got it at Knitpicks.com for a hefty price $80 (yikes!), and it took about four weeks to arrive (sigh), but now I am so glad to have it! Go for it, girl!
Wow Theresa,
I am in awe, I can manage lace knitting but when it comes to shaping I come unstuck. Got any tips?
that is SO gorgeous!!
your lace jacket is beautiful!
Melissa -- I'll be honest, with lace, I shoot for row gauge. In this case I did do a test swatch -- one pattern interval plus a little -- and then I blocked it to "what seemed right". The row gauge worked out perfectly, and it looked right to me, so I went for it. Not very scientific, but it worked.
Holly -- Anne-Caroline is right -- I got my board from KnitPicks. It's called a SpaceBoard and is essentially a table pad with a grid printed on it. Very handy and definitely one of my favorite knitting possessions.
Jacinta -- I am just following the shaping instructions in the pattern. They are relatively clever and meant to help you maintain the pattern correctly. For the sleeve increases, I didn't start a pattern interval until I had a full interval to work with b/c the yarn overs move around and you can end up wit the wrong number of stitches.
I am so enjoying watching this jacket take shape!!! It's just lovely. And I would echo the suggestion of seaming with KSH -- I could be wrong, but I think you'll be pleased with the way it works.
Seam with KSH. It's totally going to be worth the loss of your sanity.
I had actually wondered about the white at the cast on, but thought it was a stupid question and rather than confesseing my ignorance, kept quiet. So thank you for answering my unasked question!
Theresa--Your jacket is looking fantastic. So ethereal!
I'm with the crowd on the KSH seaming. It would be a bummer to have a different yarn shrink or go weird on you after washing.
The shoulder seam you did looks almost invisible, so I bet the other seams will, too.