Sunday, September 20, 2009

So, I've Been Thinking...

Since I'm back into lace knitting and since I really enjoyed entering a few things into the fair, my mind has been going full steam. I have at least one project in mind for next year's fair.

Normally, when I say I have a project in mind, I'm about 5 minutes away from casting on. That's not the case this time. I'm thinking about it. I'm swatching for it. I'm getting acquainted with the pattern.

Here's the pattern I'm thinking of doing. It calls for "the finest lace weight Shetland yarn"; I think I've found the perfect yarn for it. When I was at the yarn store yesterday, I saw some absolutely scrumptious, fine, natural white merino lace weight yarn. The gown is knit on 2.0 mm needles. That's pretty fine, making it a lot of knitting.


Here's a swatch of one repeat of the bottom edging. The only reason I even swatched it is that the pattern is from Sarah Don's classic book, "The Art of Shetland Lace" and all of the patterns are written in an old form of pattern writing. For instance, "O" is yarn over, "T" is knit two together, etc. That makes the pattern a little more difficult to follow. My swatch isn't done to size; I used a slightly heavier lace weight yarn on 4.0 mm needles. As I said, I only did the swatch to see how the pattern would be to follow.

I have a dilemma, though. I have absolutely no reason to make a christening gown. I don't expect there will be any more grandchildren in our family. Do I make it and hope that, one day, one of my grandchildren will want it for a great-grandchild? Do I make it and sell it? Give it away? Should I even make it at all?

Got input? I'd love to have some!

6 comments:

  1. How about donating it to a worthy cause for an auction - such as nicu of your local hospital

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ev, you need a reason to knit something??? Go for it, girl. It will be a beautiful dress to knit and think of the enjoyment you'll get from that. After it is finished and you've won your ribbons, then you can decide what to do with it. Do love the idea of giving it to the nicu.

    Ilene

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm with Susan; that was exactly my thought too. That's a lovely pattern - I can just imagine all the fun you'll have with it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This little gown is really lovely, and I'm sure the recipient, whoever it should be, would be just amazed to receive it. A charity auction sounds like a perfect solution to your dilemna. You have the fun and pleasure of knitting something so lovely,and eventually it will be a gift to an innocent. The baby won't know, but the Mother will be thrilled, I'm sure. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. A charity auction IS A GREAT IDEA!! And don't forget that you have sisters and brothers who might, (or will) be grandparents in the future.

    ReplyDelete