Knititude

Chinese Lace Pullover

  I toyed with the idea of giving this sweater a better name.  After much consideration, I almost chose "Suzhou," a town in China famous for its beautiful gardens and beautiful women, because that's where my grandmother is from (and she is certainly more beautiful than I'll ever be--here's proof).  My other top choice was "Meihua," Chinese for plum blossom, a symbol of China.  In the end I decided to keep the name practical and descriptive, and Chinese Lace Pullover it remains. 

Worked in DK weight cotton yarn, this sweater would also be lovely in a cotton/silk blend, or all silk, or wool/silk, or cashmere--any yarn with good stitch definition that will show off the lace pattern, a modified version of "Chinese Lace" from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns.  The fit is not overly close, but the ribs create a flattering, body-skimming line, and the raglan sleeves are also flattering for most body types.  The pattern is written for sizes S, M, L, 1X, 2X & 3X; for garment bust measurements of 35, 39, 43, 47, 51, and 55 inches.  Click here to purchase pattern!  (If using a direct payment from your Paypal account, or a credit card, make sure you click the "continue to download" button immediately after purchase.)

Edited on 10/23/07 to add:  the pattern has been updated and now includes directions for working both flat, in pieces, AND in the round to the armholes; in addition, the upper body shaping has been altered slightly to allow simpler and clearer directions for continuing the 7 knit/ 2 purl body ribbing into the neckband.  IF you purchased the pattern before the above date, and want the updated version, please contact me at [email protected], and I will email you the new version free of charge.

Edited on 3/28/08 to add:   Please make the following correction to patterns purchased before today:  under "Sleeves:  Raglan Shaping,"  the first sentence should read "Dec 2 sts each side (k1, SSSK...)" etc., NOT "(k1, sl1, SSSK...)." 

At long last

Nice house!  Wonder who lives there?  Wonder when it was built?  Wait a minute--what's that in the foreground over there...could it be...Chinese Lace?!

Yes, it most certainly is--and it's not too short!

Hooray!

Our new corner of the world.

Isn't it dreamy?   I've missed a few Eye Candy Fridays, so I wanted to get caught up; these photos are not top-notch, but they do give some idea of the beauty of  Lake Como, Italy.

Note to self:

Next time, don't be a lazy slug:  treat ripped yarn properly to remove the kinks before re-knitting! It's not terrible, but you can see the difference between the new yarn and re-knitted yarn if you look closely (and if you can get past the moire patterning--for some reason it's really noticeable in this photo).  Modeled pics and pattern coming soon--the former when she dries, the latter ASAP.

Aargh.

Every day since the first day of September, I've been checking and re-checking my e-mail, waiting for the notice to Knitty readers that the fall Knitty was up; you'd think that at some point during that time I might have realized that I NEGLECTED TO INCLUDE THE URL TO THIS SITE in my designer blurb.  So all that web traffic never got directed HERE (or QUI, as we say here in Italia).  See the expression on the kid's face?  Well, compared to how I feel, he's turning mental cartwheels.  I mean, if my top priority was to make a lot of moolah, I would have stuck with veterinary medicine (NOT!!--although that was the mother lode compared to knitwear design)--but it sure would be nice to at least be able to support my expensive yarn habit with my own earnings.

Sherwood for grownups

Now, I couldn't tell from the photo at left (both are from Harper's Bazaar, September 2006) if the jumper shown is a knit, but it could be; the one below is definitely not, but it has a sort of heraldic, medieval feel to it that makes me think of...Sherwood.  The rib and braid pattern I used in Sherwood makes me think of tunics and halberds, chain mail, that sort of thing, and now I'm picturing Sherwood sleeveless, mid-thigh length, worked in a gorgeous gray wool-silk combo, something that has a sheen to it, not metallic so much, or at least no more than that metallic glint you might catch from some bird's feathers, around a pigeon's neck, say.  Those ribs and the "V" effect of the braid arrangement are very figure-flattering; much as I like the idea of a white blouse, I would probably end up wearing it over a turtleneck.  You could put tights under it, or those %$#! leggings that are seemingly back in style.  Size 14 has a 36 inch chest circumference, and size 16, 39 inches.  Just keep working until it's long enough, a little armhole shaping, a little ribbing around the armholes to match the neck...yum.  Wish I had time to do it myself.

P.S.  I remember you, Paige Farley-Hackel--you, and your little dogs, too.

The things one will do

to get eye-catching photos!  Last April, while we were in Florida, I recruited the husband to play photographer, donned bathing suit and gloves, grabbed my hapless toddler's hand, and posed like an idiot on the beach, all in hopes of increasing the chances that my pattern for "Seaside," now in Magknits, would be accepted for publication.  I guess it worked?, although thankfully at the last minute I lost my nerve and didn't include the booty shot (shown here, albeit tastefully cropped) in my submission. 

Sleeve number four

Too-tight sleeve on the right, one-size-up sleeve (unblocked--although I guess that's pretty obvious) on the left.  The stitches on the new sleeve look kind of wonky because after I ripped one of the other rejected sleeves, I was too lazy to wind the yarn into a skein, wet it, weight it and rewind it, but hopefully the stitches will even out after blocking.

(Lago di Como, here we come!)