I have finally finished knitting something! It is far too long since I last had a finished object to show you. My Viajante, a sort of cross between a poncho, a shawl and a cowl, is off the needles and duly blocked.
When I first tried this on, before blocking, I must admit to despair. It lacked the beautiful drape and was much too tight. I looked sort of like a purple sausage with fringe. But blocking did something extraordinary to the fabric, resulting in a light, sheer, fluid fabric that is really gorgeous.
I have a very stupid look on my face in the below photo, but love the way the pond grasses look through the sheer lace:
This is not the sort of thing I usually wear. The shape of it is really different. I suppose it is a kind of statement piece. It is also not all that easy to wear:
It is also a bit of a pain to knit. I found it to be endless, and slightly soul-sapping. I spent four months on this project. That is one-third of the knitting year; which to my mind is a big commitment for one project. However, despite it being slightly on the edge of my fashion comfort zone (where to wear it? how to wear it?) and a fairly annoying (albeit easy) knit, I find myself totally fascinated with it. You really have to feel the fabric to appreciate it. This is my first time using Wollmeise Lace-garn; its fans are legion and vociferous, but I can see why. It feels great. It is so silky and has a magnificent drape.
The thing that sold me on Wollmeise, however, was when I washed this prior to blocking. Not a single drop of purple bled into the wash water. Not a drop! The colour is so gorgeous, so rich and vibrant, and it didn’t bleed at all. I have been veering away from colourwork after my colour bleeding disaster reported in this post, but now I think there is more colourwork (and more Wollmeise) in my future.
This post is very photo-heavy and word-light. I am afraid that this represents a compromise due to my new commitments. I promised myself I would spend most of the day studying. But, I can comfort myself with this thought, at least something got done around here! I’ll end with the gorgeous shot below: isn’t it just perfect?
It is soooo beautiful! I am now knitting the lace mesh (being extra careful due to reading about your un-knitting experience!) I am curious however, about how you blocked it. Any tips?????
Hi Deb. Oh wow, you are nearly done now! I found the lace part, while a bit tedious, to be more interesting than the rest. As to blocking, I was planning on using blocking wires, at least for the lace mesh, but in the end I just used pins. A lot of pins. I was most concerned about adding a bit of width around the shoulders and arms as the tube was very narrow. I wet blocked it and then carefully pinned the long edge, then pinned out the decrease edge, while gently pulling down to get a bit more width (or perhaps depth is the better term). This added about 4 inches (or 8 in the round) to the width at the elbow. I then pulled out the lace and pinned it. I have noticed that many on Ravelry included blocking photos and they have blocked it into a sort of crescent shape. I didn’t do that, making the long edge completely straight. The secret was to use lots of pins to keep the edges from rippling. I then let it dry for 24 hours, and voila. I hope this helps. Good luck!
Thanks so much for the tips! I am actually kind of sad that I only have about 8 rows left. I’ve never blocked such a giant piece before, and I guess I will use the guest bedroom and some heavy towels on the bed. I especially was glad to hear you could make it a bit wider at the elbow stage too. I will let you know how I make out with it!
Absolutely gorgeous.
Thank you, Barbara!
It looks really lovely! The colour is wonderful!
Thank you!
Happy to hear you now only have one endless project left to finish 😉
Ha Ha! This cracked me up, Teresa! I am determined to whip out some quick projects now. (At least, that’s the plan.)
That’s gorgeous Kelly! Well done on getting it finished 🙂 WM lace blocks out so wonderfully it does become totally addictive (goes back to finishing off her WM lace cardi…)
You enabler you! It was your Viajante that made me cast this on in the first place. (And now that I saw you walking down the hall wearing your Nuvem shawl….let’s just say, I am trying to resist.)
Beautiful! I knit one that was for someone else, and I’m tempted to knit one for myself; while it’s not my typical style, I think it looks so inviting, and yours is especially stunning. Trust you put details of your increase/decrease rate/methods in your project notes?
And, did the wonky sitches unwonk when you blocked?
Hi Susan, if I recall you knit your Viajante in 6 weeks, which is nearly incomprehensible to me. I did put my mods in my notes on Ravelry, but they were simple: I increased every row, as called for in the pattern, and decreased every third row instead of every second. As to the wonkiness, yes, it seems to have sorted itself out in the blocking.
The color is so lovely
Thanks. I bought this yarn years ago because I loved the colour so much. It took me a long time to find the right pattern for it.
I love it, especially how you wear it in the first photo – it would look stunning on a night out. Could it be wrapped around you perhaps? I was tempted to try this project, but I’m having another baby so it’s all baby clothes on the needles now. Congratulations on finishing it so beautifully – four months is a long time to commit to a knitting project!
Thank you, Angela. It can be wrapped around; I seem to have neglected to put in a photo of that. If I were you, I would definitely save this project for later. It is an epic knit. And there are so many cute baby patterns out there…
Fabulissimo! Take a bow! That certainly was a long-haul knit. It looks wonderful on you.
Thank you! I am rather proud of it myself (though still not sure how much I will wear it). I’m still waiting to see your Boxy and Buttony.
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