Thursday, November 07, 2013

Pink knitting disaster

All I wanted was a quiet weekend away, with the chance to get some good solid knitting done on my Lace Maxi Dress (see post below for image of said dress). As I knit I would plan out how I would wear this dress. Definitely with milkmaid plaits atop my head. Closed shoes or open strappy heels? Oh, choices, choices! But no fear - I would have many happy hours to ponder these things as my needles clicked together and the pink lace grew under my steady labour.

Or not. Being the good knitter I am, I swatched for the lace dress and then gaped at my swatch in horror. That wasn't lace so much as an invitation for everybody to view my private parts! When your swatch is bordering on indecent in it's see-through-ness, then you know that a whole dress knit up in it will be a skanky lacy disaster!

And since I was planning to wear this to my friend's wedding, it wasn't really the look I was going for. Hurumph.

I have a feeling my swatch was too holey because the yarn I used (Sirdar Baby Bamboo) contained no mohair, whereas the yarn specified, Noro Silk Garden Lite, contains a whopping 45% mohair. I can imagine all those fuzzy, free-floating mohair fibres would work to hold the lace together in a much more secure fashion. A case, methinks, of a garment being designed with a very particular yarn in mind.

Unfortunately I had no boundless yarn budget to purchase more yarn with. And I was stuck in the middle of the country, with only the yarn and needles I had brought with me. What's a knitter to do? No fear - pdf patterns to the rescue! I kissed my husband on the cheek for his foresight in lugging his laptop with him on our weekend away (no small feat considering we were on a cycling break!) and immediately downloaded the Principesa dress pattern, which I've wanted to make for aaaaaages. I quickly swatched, gave a joyful chortle of delight when my swatch worked with the yarn I had, and settled down to knit. So before you know it, this:

Pink-Knitting

will soon turn into a hot pink version of this:

Principesa

And I have 23 days to get it finished. Yikes!

13 comments:

  1. Wow! That's going to be amazing! Now knit...KNIT!!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I do hope you'll get a photo like that with the appreciative, leering audience in the frame!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, much less opportunity for wardrobe malfunction with that dress- and it is gorgeous! Look forward to seeing it.

    (and kudos to the hubby as well)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow that's going to be AMAZING, and perfect for a wedding, can't wait to see the result!

    ReplyDelete
  5. s-l-i-i-i-n-k-y! that yarn will work with that pattern much better.

    23 days sounds totally do-able.

    ReplyDelete
  6. s-l-i-i-i-n-k-y! that yarn will work with that pattern much better.

    23 days sounds totally do-able.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ohh what a great colour and I like the back detail of the new dress. Can't wait to see it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Va va voom! Wow that is some dress. Sorry the original one didn't work out, but if this is second place I'd take it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yikes - whatta story! But with a silver lining... that #2 dress is a STUNNER. And I can just envisage how beautiful it's going to look on you when done! Happy knitting :) x

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow a beautiful dress. You'll look awesome. 23 days? Plenty of time for a super knitter like you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Can't wait to see the finished dress. It will be awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous9:30 am

    I bow down to you! I am so not ready to knit a dress. Awesome and that one, hooooly! It is pretty cool.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lady this dress is going to be jaw (and possibly draw mwhahaha!) dropping when it's finished. You already know I have serious yarn envy with this yarn and you are going to be the absolute belle of the ball. Can't WAIT to see it finished!

    ReplyDelete

Leave a comment! Make my day!

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.