Ishbel
Saturday, 25 July, 2009
More craft bragging (this time in honour of Dave who asked me about blocking at brunch today). It's not quite finished so I can't take the final this-is-what-it-looks-like-when-it's-being-worn shot, but I can always add that in later.
Update: Scroll to the bottom of the post for the finished product.
I've just finished knitting Ishbel, designed by Ysolda. I made the Ishbel beret first because I lost another wool felt beret (*sigh*; I lose one every year) and figured it was probably worth me trying to learn how to make berets so I can replace the ones I lose. I had some 4 ply Bendigo Woollen Mills black Classic yarn that I'd been meaning to use for something else (but then decided not to), so I made it with that. But I forgot to take pictures while I was doing it, so here are some pics of the next one I made (using Morris and Sons 4ply Empire. I was worried I would run out of yarn because one ball is 175m and the pattern for the medium size requires 180m, but it turns out I had plenty of yarn left over. This was also the first pattern where I did some blocking on a plate:
Anyway, next came Ishbel, a shawlette (follow that link to see what a shawlette is; it's basically a mini shawl that you wear like as scarf). I knitted it using the same yarn (as well as the pretty stitch markers that Tim and Ros had bought me from The Woolshack for my birthday this year. [Sorry, no photos of those; I always forget to take photos when I'm actually knitting the thing, and part of me always thinks you wouldn't be interested in them anyway.])
So, Dave, this is the difference blocking makes. Here's the shawlette as it was when it just came off my needles:
It doesn't look like much, does it! Here's a picture with flash (I hate the flash on my camera) so you can see the pattern a bit better:
Then I wetted it and squeezed out most of the water so that it became a bit of a soggy mess like this:
(You probably can't tell; it looks too much like the first picture!) Then I got out my new blocking pins (they're actually quilt pins, and these were purchased at the recent Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair for $2. The good thing about them is that they're longer and sturdier than my normal blocking pins; the bad thing is that there's not enough of them):
So the next step was to stretch out the knitted thing and hold it in place with the pins:
Why do we do this? Because it brings out the lace pattern in the shawlette:
Now, you can't do this with all yarns, but you can with most of the natural yarns—cotton, wool, mohair, silk too (I think, though I've never been game to buy silk because it's so expensive and therefore, if you stuff up while using it, it's more of a waste.) Natural yarns have better memory for when they've been blocked, so they'll hold the shape once the yarn dries.
The next step is to wait 'til it dries (and in this weather, that will probably take a couple of days) and then weave in the ends. And then it will be ready to wear!
Update
Here's me wearing the finished product:
Current:
Bible: Isaiah (ESV) 28/09/2010
seen: Tropic Thunder 26/09/2010
seen: The Life of Mammals 24/09/2010
seen: What a Girl Wants 19/09/2010
seen: Jerry Maguire 19/09/2010
seen: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 06/09/2010
seen: Tomorrow Never Dies 05/09/2010
seen: Nanny McPhee 28/08/2010
read: Mercury (Hope Larson) 27/08/2010
read: Spellcheckers Vol 1 (Jamie S Rich, Nicolas Hitori de, Joelle Jones) 16/08/2010
read: Solipsistic Pop Vol 2 (Solipsistic Pop) 16/08/2010
read: Chiggers (Hope Larson) 15/08/2010
seen: Josie and the Pussycats 14/08/2010
seen: Mr & Mrs Smith 14/08/2010
seen: Step Up 2 13/08/2010
Blinks:
How to recalibrate the home button on your iPhone.
Unsolicited manuscripts accepted by Pan Macmillan with certain conditions.
Thought Balloon is a group blog in which the writers tackle a new theme every week? month? with one-page scripts. This URL is for their Phonogram ones.
How to sew a zipper on a knitted garment.
Issues organised by tale.
Online magazine that publishes fairy tales that are not reworkings of old tales.
Journal that publishes fairy tale writing.
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Other comments
Blocking lace is amazing, isn’t it. A crumpled up mess is stretched and pinned and turns into a thing of beauty. Hmm, there’s a story there too.
I’ve done two Ishbels this winter. One in Morris and Sons’ Empire and the other in Bendigo luxury which is really lovely to use. I did the beret to match that one. I love them both.
If you like shawls like that, have a look at Aestlight by Gudrun who is also a Ravelry designer. It’s about the same size as Ishbel but a different construction. The simple birds nest lace does not require the constant attention I found Ishbel needed in counting stitches in a repeat. I’m about halfway through this and will probably do another one in softer yarn. I’m using some handspun Romney I bought several years ago at a Spinners Open day.
Gudrun has some interesting berets too but I can’t remember if I saw them on her page at Ravelry or on the blog. I’d like to try some of them.
Preeeeedy!
That makes more sense now. I’d just thought it was part of the process of letting go of the knitting process, and sending it out into the world!