Thursday, March 23, 2006

A vote on a future project

I mentioned in my last post that I was torn between a few project ideas for a reasonable quantity of Lorna's Laces Bullfrogs and Butterflies in color black purl. Here is a picture I pulled off the web of that colorway.
Nice and somber... sedate yet refined. Now for the potential projects..

#1 A very nice worsted weight lace shawl from Vogue Knitting Fall 2005.
Pros: If I do it, I'll have a non-laceweight shawl. Perfect for those cold seasons. I also think that
pictures of this shawl are as refined and sophisticated as the yarn.
Cons: It's hard to keep a shawl under a coat, so if it becomes a shawl, it won't get worn as much
as a sweater would. Not nearly as versatile.

#2. A cute sweater from Holiday 2005 Vogue Knitting.
Pros: It's shapely and feminine, nice bell sleeves and wide collar, reminiscent of the Victorian era.
Cons: I'm not that sure the amount of varigation in the yarn will go with this style. I guess I'll have to swatch a fair bit of it to be sure.

#3. The Fjalar sweater from the Viking book by Elsebeth Lavold. I adore this book, and in my opinion this sewater is the most feminine one of the lot that would fit a petite frame well.
Unfortunately I have a few issues with the design which I illlustrated in this photo.
I hate the drop sleeve, and the ribbing at the wrist. It makes the girl's arms look funny. And I hate the way the neckline puckers, I have seen the same think on the small number of finished
Fjalars posted on people's blogs. The solution: turn it into a set-in sleeve V-necked wrap-front
cardigan, illustrated below.
Bear in mind that this is hand-drawn by me, and I can't draw worth a damn! I would keep the cable panels on the sleeves, but do away with the ribbing. I would try to make the sleeves as straight as possible, which is not illustrated very well. Issues: how would I close it? Buttons don't seem like the best option. Snaps? Sassy little ties? A belt? Suggestions please!
Pros: It would be a shapely feminine sassy little number, slightly medieval looking to boot (never a bad thing).
Cons: It will be a fair amount of work to swatch, figure out measurements, etc..

Votes Please!

Ivanova

2 comments:

delennknits said...

I like all of them! However, with the varigation in the yarn, the fjalar might look strange. Or at least it might detract from the cabling. I guess you'd have to do a swatch. So, I'm leaning towards the VK sweater.

If you wanted to modify the fjalar, I'd probably use snaps. Buttons would be an option if you used the peg ones along the edge of the front (see Disoriented X from knitty).

thraceknits said...

I agree with Delenn - the Lorna's Laces would work much better with #1 or #2. For practical reasons, you'd probably get more use out of a sweater. Any idea if the yarn wears well?

For the Fjalar sweater, I'd find a belt too fussy. Installing a zipper with that cabled panel is probably too hard/messy. You could try small hooks and eyelets as an alternative to snaps. Ties might be OK if they don't detract from the cabled panel and allow the front to lie flat.