nap of the century

Posted on Posted in lace/shawls, Uncategorized

oh man! i meant to get this post written SO much earlier today—then i decided to wait til i had pictures of something special all set. once that was done, i thought “i’ll just lie down for a quick nap before i write to clear my head”. that was at 6pm.

i didn’t know it would turn into Nap of the Century—i just woke up a half hour ago (it’s nearly midnight).

oh well. so lemme ask you—what goes really good with bubbly??

ready?

starlight!

yup, it’s done—can you believe it? i almost can’t—only because i knit it myself do i understand that this piece is finally finished.

i even blocked it.

i know you love blocking shots, so that’s why i waited to write the post.

it took quite a bit of time to block—not only did i have to get the edges all straight, but i had to fiddle with all the inner lines to get them to lie straight too (they got a little distorted in the wash).

it was totally worth spending all that time fidddling.
but some day—SOME day—i will learn; some day i will actually order some blocking wires.

here’s a detail shot (though it’s hard to get a close-up and still have all the elements showing . . .).
i think i used every single one of the 500 or so yellow-headed pins i have.

i made the points on one end be the opposite of the points on the other end. not sure how this will pan out; i’ll make my final judgement after looking at the modeling shots (forthcoming, once it’s unpinned) but it could also be worked so that they all face the same way. i had this idea that they should oppose each other, but it could backfire and just look weird!

i keep walking back into the living room to look at it; it blocked out so well. i was a little nervous that the edging and the body would not block out nicely together—i dunno why. i should know better. but there you have it. we all get nervous that the final stages of our creations will yield disaster. of course, it doesn’t help that lace isn’t lace until the absolute, very last step.

according to my sophisticated system of filing and note-taking

i used 8 ounces of vintage beehive scotch wool fingering yarn—about 1400 yards. this yielded a stole that is 24 inches wide and 96 inches long. instructions for a more petite length will be included in the pattern, which i am hoping to have done soon.

and so now, off to the drawing board to see about that.

42 thoughts on “nap of the century

  1. It’s stunning! Can’t wait to see the modeling pics.

    My knees hurt just thinking of how long it took to pin all that out!

  2. Oh my GRAVY!!! Anne, you know I had my reservations of this one…mainly because it was dark and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to “see” what all of you guys could see…I know, I was being snotty LOL…Anyways, I have to tell you….BRILLIANT! I am utterly speechless. THIS people, THIS is what makes this young lady a very,very talented designer! If you don’t get bombarded with requests for this one, man, I will be stunned. I am just in awe. You rock my friend and this is why I am such a staunch supporter *sheepish grin* and ya’ll thought it was because she justified my ridiculous shopping freenzies 😉

  3. Gorgeous! And I can’t believe you got those long edges perfectly straight without blocking wires. Maybe that’s why you needed the mongo nap. 🙂

  4. Oh Anne it came out BEAUTIFULLY!
    So tight and crisp and all “together” and there’s harmony!

    Well done!!!!!

  5. Ahhh, blocking wires would be so nice. I must say blocking is one of my favorite, and least favorite things. I very much dislike pinning everything out, especially since I don’t have wires to keep everything straight. However, It feels so satisfying once it is blocked out, and stretched, and sets in just the way it’s supposed to.

  6. It’s just as fabulous as I knew it would be! But no blocking wires? I’m impressed! Bring on the modeled shots!

  7. Well – I just HAD to comment on this one – Your Starlight Wrap is a spectacular shawl – Beautiful patterning – I love the end shaping – Gorgeous!

  8. Whooo hoooo! Pop the champagne and pour some round. Wow! That turned out awesome Anne. Do a dance and pat yourself on the back girl.

    So how do you keep your edges straight without blocking wires? I always end up with scallops and I’ve been kicking myself for not buying a set of blocking wires when they were on sale last fall…

  9. the starlight shawl is stunning!! i can’t wait to see it modeled. you did a fantastic job! yea!! i LOVE it!

  10. Wow what a great nap!! Wish I could get one like that, but the child just won’t let me.

    OMG the shawl is gorgeous. Yeah I think it is time to treat yourself to some blocking wires. 🙂

  11. Incredible, can’t wait to see it! Your vision was clear, and reworking the ends was brilliant. The opposing points look great, think they ‘match’ better that way. Hope you feel regenerated after a good nap and successful project!

  12. Oooooh…that’s gorgeous! Can’t wait to see it modeled. Oh, and I’m quite impressed with your extraordinarily sophisticated filing/organizing system. It looks very similar to my own. 😛

  13. Absolutely gorgeous! I love it! 24 X 96? Wow… enough to wrap oneself in a very lovely way… Can’t wait to see the modeled shots!

  14. BREATHTAKING!

    cant wait for the pattern – confessiontime – i still have to block my Wingsofthemoth shawl! yikes! it means going to my mother’s apt and using her bed and now that she had left after a three week visit i will!

  15. So pretty! Amazing really. I love the color, too. I am learning that I like lace but not frou-frou lace, so for me, this is about as good as lace can get. The borders are SO COOL!

  16. That is gorgeous! I’m so glad to see you’ve finished it – I’ll definitely have to get this pattern as soon as you publish it. I love that it’s both lacy AND substantial at the same time!

  17. Hey, wow! You finished it and I just now noticed! It looks wonderful! Can’t wait to see the pattern (I just *happen* to have 1500y of laceweight cashmere hanging around with no pattern to go with…)

  18. Anne it’s amazing! I’m in awe, I love it. Simply love it. I know how you feel when you reach that final stage, and you worry about it coming out “just right” after all that hard work. Again, it really is just gorgeous!!!! Worth every bit of all that hard work from start to finish.

  19. WOW! We use really thin stainless steel welding rods for our blocking wires. You have to clean them up before you use them the first time…but way cheaper…way more accessible (providing you have a welding supply store anywhere close), and we keep em in a really small around pvc pipe.

    Diane

  20. It’s stunning. I can’t wait for the modeling shots either.

    But looking at all those pins. Oh goodness. I’ve only pinned little lace samples and I can’t imagine how long it must have taken to place and replace all 500 pins.

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