Becky ([info]ladysaphira) wrote in [info]advanced_knit,
2007-07-17 12:25:00
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Wedding shawl/stole/wrap

I hope this isn't too vague.  A very good friend of mine got engaged yesterday.  I really want to knit her a nice wedding shawl.  I don't think I'm prepared to knit (and I don't think she'd know what to do with) a six foot square of shetland lace but I am looking for a project slightly more complicated then the Fiber Trends shawls I've done so far.  By complicated I guess I mean smaller needles, finer gauge, etc...

The main thing I'm looking for is pattern suggestions.  I can see something like this rectangular shawl going over very well, and I love the pattern on this triangular one.  Unfortunately both those shawls were designed by the knitter - and I'm not at that level yet!  As I already said I'm looking for a fine lace project - I do want the finished project to pass through a wedding ring, but other then that I don't know exactly what I'm looking for.  I will happily use this as a good excuse to buy a whole book of lace patterns, but I'd like some recommendations first.

I'd love to hear any other tidbits of information anyone has to offer - good stories, bad stories, yarn suggestions, etc...

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  • 49 comments

[info]blaueteufelin

July 17 2007, 23:45:40 UTC 4 years ago

You might check out this pattern.

[info]ladysaphira

July 18 2007, 03:09:43 UTC 4 years ago

I'll bookmark that one, thanks!

[info]alison_in_oh

July 17 2007, 23:45:47 UTC 4 years ago

For some reason this pattern suddenly leapt to mind when I read your post. But man, would that ever be a labor of love to knit for a friend! :D

[info]lilavati220

July 18 2007, 00:59:02 UTC 4 years ago

That is perhaps the most beautiful shawl I've seen. So much so that even though I know I'd never ever wear it, I'm very tempted to add it to my project list.

[info]ladysaphira

July 18 2007, 03:10:39 UTC 4 years ago

I'm pretty sure no matter what pattern I choose knitting with cobweb weight yarn will be a labor of love...

[info]trillianekua

July 18 2007, 03:32:24 UTC 4 years ago

I thought of that one too. Mason-Dixon Knitting had a long thread of comments making suggestions of rectangular stole patterns a few months back, with a link to this site which has compiled many many of them. The pattern Kay ended up deciding to make for her friend was, I think, Hanami.

My favorite laceweight shawl from that list was the Forest Path Stole for which I bought the pattern even though I don't have the yarn yet... and also I don't know how to do entrelac yet. But someday, I will buy the yarn and learn the entrelac just for this stole! (The pattern was original in Interweave Knits, but can now be bought on its own here.)

[info]ladysaphira

4 years ago

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[info]theredhead

4 years ago

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[info]aflamingstar

July 18 2007, 03:44:59 UTC 4 years ago

I'm making this right now out of Misti Alpaca Lace, and I <3 it. I'm scared of the blocking step though, having never done that.

[info]capsicumanuum

4 years ago

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[info]alison_in_oh

4 years ago

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[info]capsicumanuum

4 years ago

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[info]allichaton

July 18 2007, 00:19:59 UTC 4 years ago

I bet the Song of Hiawatha Stole</i> would be fantastic as a wedding shawl...

[info]ladysaphira

July 18 2007, 03:12:16 UTC 4 years ago

That is very nice - I've never adapted a lace pattern though and I'm not sure what would happen if I tried a pattern like this with a very fine yarn. I suppose whatever I decide swatches are in order!

[info]allichaton

4 years ago

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[info]ladysaphira

4 years ago

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[info]allichaton

4 years ago

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[info]ladysaphira

4 years ago

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[info]allichaton

4 years ago

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[info]kepharel

4 years ago

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[info]capsicumanuum

4 years ago

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[info]ladysaphira

4 years ago

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[info]sugarcoatedlie

July 18 2007, 00:37:15 UTC 4 years ago

Wow, that Yarn Harlot shawl is probably the prettiest shawl I've ever seen!

If you want something similarly pretty, I'm completely in love with the Frost Flowers & Leaves shawl in A Gathering of Lace, but it is a big square shawl, so it might not be what you're looking for.

Here's a pic from someone's Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knit_cookie/498948148/in/pool-lacyknitters/

[info]ladysaphira

July 18 2007, 03:12:33 UTC 4 years ago

I like that, but it is pretty big...

[info]zardra

July 18 2007, 00:42:36 UTC 4 years ago

If you like the inside pattern of the Yarn Harlot's shawl, she got the pattern from The First Book of Modern Lace Knitting. I believe it's one of the square table cloth patterns that's knit in the round. The Harlot only knit 2 repeats to make it a triangle.

[info]zardra

July 18 2007, 00:45:56 UTC 4 years ago

If you want something rectangular there's Eunny's Print O' The Wave Stole: http://www.eunnyjang.com/images/knit/0511joycesscarf/stole_print_o_the_wave.pdf

[info]ladysaphira

4 years ago

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[info]divinebird

4 years ago

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[info]hedgemom

July 18 2007, 01:17:53 UTC 4 years ago

In order to make a shawl that will pass through a wedding ring, you'll need to knit it from very very fine cobweb weight.

I suggest checking out A Gathering of Lace. There are several shawls that would work for your needs.

[info]ladysaphira

July 18 2007, 03:15:49 UTC 4 years ago

A gathering of lace has been on my wishlist for awhile - but I've never seen the inside of it so I wasn't sure how much of a help it would be right now. Thanks!

[info]blakdove

July 18 2007, 01:22:13 UTC 4 years ago

I really enjoyed making the Rona Lace shawl, which is circular (but you can see how it's easily wearable here). It's nice because the pattern is always changing, but it's easier and quicker than it looks (It took me under a month of off-and-on knitting to complete). I also LOVED the yarn I used -- Misti Alpaca laceweight, and highly recommend it for whatever shawl you choose.

[info]ladysaphira

July 18 2007, 03:19:21 UTC 4 years ago

Oooo, I really like that circular shawl! Thanks for the yarn suggestion, it does look nice, I hope one of my LYSes has a good selection of lace yarns on hand for me to touch.

[info]blakdove

4 years ago

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[info]wind_wraith

4 years ago

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[info]torrilin

July 18 2007, 01:35:35 UTC 4 years ago

I'd suggest looking at Blackberry Ridge patterns. They have a lot of lovely shawls, including the Song of Hiawatha one already mentioned. There is also a good range of difficulty, as some like Spider Queen are quite complex, and others are much easier.

If you would like to design your own, the Barbara Walker second treasury has a nice selection of edging patterns as well as many classic lace and lace knitting patterns. The easy way to start would be using them in combination with something like EZ's Pi R Square, Pi R Round or Stonington Shawl patterns. If you have Gossamer Webs the Orenberg shawl format also works well for designing your own, and the included shawl pattern is quite spectacular.

A shawl that will pass through a wedding ring is pretty fine gauge. You'd be looking at around size 0 needles and cobweb weight wool. There is not a lot of cobweb weight wool available commercially, so if you have specific yarn desires (like an Orenberg style wool-silk yarn), it may be time to learn how to spin.

IME, designing your own shawl is much easier than learning to spin good laceweight. I'll probably be working on my fine spinning for the rest of my life :).

[info]ladysaphira

July 18 2007, 03:27:13 UTC 4 years ago

I'm nervous about designing my own. I started changing and inventing cable patterns about 5 days into my first serious cable project but something about lace makes me nervous. I haven't worked up the guts to change or create anything - so far I just follow the directions I'm given. OTOH since all the suggestions I've seen have parts I like and parts I don't like it might be best for me to try combining bits of patterns from some of the books that have been recommended.

I don't have any specific yarn desires yet so hopefully I can find something I like. The good news is I can already spin a decent laceweight yarn. I'm just not sure I trust my tension enough to try and spin more than 2000 yards at cobweb weight without breaking anything (either the yarn or my sanity)

[info]torrilin

4 years ago

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[info]ladysaphira

4 years ago

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[info]capsicumanuum

4 years ago

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[info]ladysaphira

4 years ago

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[info]autifon

July 18 2007, 03:20:18 UTC 4 years ago

I will approach this from a slightly different direction: while that would be a loving, heartfelt gift, a wedding is (hopefully!) a once-in-a-lifetime eevnt, & the bride may have some very specific ideas regarding her wedding. Is it possible to discuss this with her? I know a surprise gift is wonderful, but on something like this, I think it might be better to ask her if she would appreciate a knitted lace veil.

I know I am being a party pooper here, but I am in the middle of wedding plans, so I guess I am a little more sensitive to these issues right now.

Also, as some have noted, the "wedding ring shawl" ideal requires you to work with size 00 needles w/ gossamer yarn that is little more than about 2 pieces of thread wound together!

If you have not even worked in laceweight, you will probably find that to be very fine, and it will give you a nice lofty effect.

Good luck! I think you got a lot of nice suggestions here.

[info]ladysaphira

July 18 2007, 03:35:02 UTC 4 years ago

Never fear, I'm planning on discussing this with her before I start any major projects! Since the groom and his men will all be in kilts I think a shetland lace shawl might fit in very well, and it's at least worth bringing up! And now that I've starting contemplating the project I might have to make something similar for myself if she doesn't want it.

I appreciate the warning about the yarn and needle sizes. I've worked with size 0 needles before, and laceweight yarn - so this is certainly a step up for me, but hopefully not too huge a step to take all at once.

I do have a lot of good suggestions here - I think I'm going to see if my local library carries any of the lace books mentioned above to see if taking several different patterns and creating a shawl of my own seems manageable. (nothing like diving in head first!) If I like that plan I'll buy the books I need so I'm not hogging any library books for months on end!

[info]autifon

4 years ago

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[info]ladysaphira

4 years ago

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[info]autifon

4 years ago

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[info]treeskin

July 18 2007, 13:02:59 UTC 4 years ago

Re: wedding ring shawl/design

For what it's worth, I've knit three shawls thus far that fit through my size 7 1/2 wedding ring; one of those was the Lily of the Valley shawl out of Knitter's a couple of years back, and it's huge. I used a 20/2 weaving thread (a wool/cashmere mill end), and size 4 needles. The density of the fabric will matter as much as the thread and needle sizes.

The rectangular shawl you linked to above wouldn't be hard to duplicate. The center is worked in dayflower lace, it's out of Walker's first treasury of knitting stitches, I'm pretty sure. And the edging looks like one of the ones out of the same book. Hardest part would be mitering the corners on the border, but there are decent tutorials on the web for that. (Eunny Jang's Majoring In Lace is a good place to start, also see Judy Gibson's site and the Lace Symposium at Knitting Beyond the Hebrides.)

Looks like the center is seven repeats wide, times however long you'd want it, slipping the first st of every row so you have those to pick up border sts onto, then the border is knit on afterwards. And that's all there to starting to design. Just figure out the recipe.

A simpler recipe, for the rectangular shawl at least, would be to knit a border for the narrow end, pick up sts across and knit the center panel, then knit another border for the other narrow end. A bunch of the scarf and stole projects in Victorian Knitting Today are constructed that way.

[info]ladysaphira

July 18 2007, 14:18:02 UTC 4 years ago

Re: wedding ring shawl/design

Thanks for the tips. Also those links look very useful!

[info]melodyunity

July 18 2007, 22:25:27 UTC 4 years ago

I think LJ ate my earlier comment. Here it is again:

If you wanted to do a shrug instead of a shawl, I've always liked I Do on Knitty.

[info]ladysaphira

July 19 2007, 13:03:12 UTC 4 years ago

I have always like that pattern, but I don't think my friend is a shrug kind of person...
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