wasp and rose

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Wasp Rose Knitting Pattern

once upon a time, a designer cast on for a large lace shawl project. the design she had in mind was to be quintessentially victorian—all stripes and rosebuds, with a nod to the larger natural world, in a hem ringed with wasps, their noses buried in roses.

the project got off the ground with the usual enthusiastic start, but somehow kept falling prey to life’s little detours—the yarn became discontinued, she couldn’t seem to engineer the hem she envisioned, and travel interfered with her work on it. nothing seemed to be going its way!

suddenly (or so it seemed), she realized it had been on the needles almost two years. well that just wouldn’t do, now would it? so she gathered her thoughts, finalized the pattern, and set back to work with fresh vigor.

(don’t tell kim i said this, but i love how she looks like a sassy, windblown sea captain’s wench in these photos!)

once she was back on track, it took almost no time for the piece to be done—she will never know what her hangup was to begin with. it turned out lovely; she was pleased. people started asking for the pattern. she got some new yarn support and asked a trusty test knitter to work with her on the sample.

and a second one came to life. albeit with bumps in the road of its own, but all’s well that ends well; we finally brought the project home (an barely any corrections to the pattern, a miracle!).

shown above, the petite shawl in lux from the buffalo wool company, a lustrous bison/cashmere/silk/tencel lace yarn. lux is being replaced by sexy, a lace  yarn blended from just bison and silk, which knits to the same gauge and performs very similarly.

shown below, the tall size in fibre isle kami bison, a bamboo/merino/bison lace blend in colorway rose petale. this yarn has been discontinued, but i do see it here and there in yarn shops and trading threads; you could get lucky and find some.

this pattern would also be gorgeous in treenway silks carmela, a wild muga silk lace yarn which was very popular with our barenaked club members last summer.

to purchase pattern or view complete pattern information, please click here to visit the knitspot pattern shop. or purchase the pattern in our ravelry pattern shop.


many, many thanks to ron and theresa miskin of the buffalo wool company for helping out with yarn support at the eleventh hour; we are so grateful for their contributions to this project. i’m very much looking forward to working with them more in the future. thank you!

i am so thankful to have had the opportunity to knit with fibre isle yarns and so sad that the company is no longer in business. sylvie and jacque toupin were wonderfully supportive of my work and extraordinary yarn engineers. their yarns are some of the loveliest i have ever knit with; they are missed!

many thanks to our test knitter vanessa, who churned out our sample so fast it made my head spin. it is only due to her speed and diligence that the pattern is ready today; we love you vanessa!

i am constantly amazed and grateful that so many of my friends enjoy and are willing to model for us. these lovely women share their time so we can truly experience the garments in action—aren’t we lucky? this time it was susie (in blue) and our dear kim3 (in pink). let’s have a round of applause for them . . .

ok, so how about a few more pictures?

30 thoughts on “wasp and rose

  1. Yay! I have been waiting for this one ever since I saw it nearly two years ago when you were at the DFW fiber fest! Hitting that happy button “add to cart” momentarily. It came out absolutely gorgeous in both color ways. Love it, just love it.

  2. Ditto! The bad news is, I don’t have enough Kami of any one colour in my stash…the good news is that I must have some other laceweight in sufficient quantity…just as soon as I finish the Hazeline now on the needles! (And the Rene in handspun BFL, mustn’t neglect that!)

  3. It is stunning! It always amazes me how blocking brings a piece to life. They are both beautiful, although the rose is really calling out to me!

  4. Lovely design! It looks wonderful!

    Both versions look absolutely gorgeous. Definitely something I want to make for myself when I have less than 10 projects on the needles!

  5. This is so gorgeous, and my fingers are itching to make it! I’ve been waiting expectantly for it ever since you showed us the pink one in progress. I’m really excited about it.

  6. I’ll add my “yah!” & I’m glad to know that I wasn’t the only one waiting with baited breath for”Wasp & Rose.” It is certainly a pattern worth waiting for. I have some Casaded Alpaca Lace in a lovely soft pink just waiting – and I have 2 skeins of Kami in “Raisin” which may be enough for the petite version – and I may have to get some Treenway silk – and I better stop there! YAH!!

  7. Absolutely beautiful! Can’t wait to finish sweater on needles and holiday knitting so I can work on this. My lace stash is calling . . .

  8. Lovely! I think I need to start doing more lace shawls, love the look! The models did an outstanding job and look so pretty in the shawls. I like Kim’s sweater underneath….did she knit that?

  9. Both colours compliment your beautiful design, and your lovely models as well! I love love love the grey sweater/cardigan underneath the rose confection!

  10. Gorgeous and brilliant shawl (and designer!), models and photography. I am off to the pattern shop. Thanks for another beauty, Anne!

  11. Well worth the wait. This shawl is magnificient. The models look very elegant in the shawls. Thank you, Anne, for this pattern : ) You are so talented.

  12. I was just thinking “gee, I haven’t read Anne’s blog for a long time. I wonder why I haven’t been on there” and then I come here and realize it’s because you keep writing these beautiful patterns that I feel I MUST have and then buy and download and NEVER knit! LOL! This shawl is so beautiful and the colors are fabulous. Now if I can just win the lottery so I don’t have to work…

  13. what a beautiful shawl. this is a must-knit for me. And the pink version looks like it was made for Kim!

  14. Ah, finally the waiting is over, finally I can buy the pattern and start knitting my own! Ever since you started this one, I have been coveting one …
    Thank you so much for you lovely shawl patterns!

  15. Kim does look like a sea captain’s wench! An especially gorgeous one.

    Nancy’s terrace never looked so good. This is one of your most beautiful shawls ever, Anne.

  16. I have to tell you, I had a VERY difficult time taking this shawl off. .. I think Anne could barely pry it from my fingers. . .. it is truly truly gorgeous and perfect in every way.

  17. It is gorgeous! Glad you finished it. Hmm, I may have to take a look at the stole I haven’t finished that has been on the needles for two years. thanks again for another glorious shawl. You always come up with that little bit of magic.

  18. What is the name of the pattern for the cardigan that Kim is wearing under the shawl? I love the ruffled edging and subtle pattern in the body. Is this a Knitspot pattern that I somehow missed?

  19. love those brooklyn photos!! and of course the shawl is so magnificent. special special special…

  20. Absolutely gorgeous! Talk about lace that’s worth the wait 🙂 And Kim, as always, makes it look so good (she’s the perfect model for anything Victorian, with those lovely blonde curls). I hope you had a restful and wonderful Thanksgiving!

  21. So many people just throw together three lace patterns and call it a shawl. I’m so glad you’ve a talent for artfully integrating designs – I’ve always loved that rose trellis pattern, and I’m so happy to see it paired with a perfect hemline. This is beautiful!

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