Tuesday 22 July 2014

Beautiful wedding lace


I don't think I've ever been as nervous about a knitting project as I was with this one. The reason? It was a wedding present for a good friend of mine. And what could be more nerve-wracking than knitting something for someone else to be worn on one of the most important days of her life?

The bride chose the model herself, I took her measurements, found the yarn (70% baby alpaca and 30% silk, so incredibly soft!) and started knitting. But it wasn't as easy as I thought. It's hard to know if the size is really right before you've blocked the piece. So I was really, really nervous about  if it would fit or not right until the end.

It did fit, but was a little bit on the smaller side, especially around the neck. After some thinking, I decided to make an additional crochet border around the neck and the sleeves. Although, the fact that I finished the crochet borders the night before the wedding really didn't help my nervousness! But I have to say I think they kind of made the bolero better. The crochet lace gave it a vintage kind of look that I like. It seemed the bride liked it too, or at least I hope so!


Pattern: Matrimonio bolero (free pattern)
Yarn: DROPS Lace
Needles: 3,5 mm

The pattern is written for 3/4 sleeves, so here's the modifications I made: I CO 43 st, then increased 2 st on both sides every 18th row (after one repeat of the entire lace pattern) until the sleeve was of desired lenght. Then I increased 13 st on both sides for the back. Now that I think about it, I should have increased more at this point, probably as much as one repeat of the lace leaf on both sides.





Adjusting the seam :) The wedding itself was really beautiful. The weather was perfect and the surroundings wonderful. Well picked by the bride and groom!

All photos by Mari Lehtisalo.

11 comments:

  1. Den är nog just sådan som jag hade hoppats! Stort tack ännu för den. <3 Rolig bild den där sista, jag är där helt bakom flötet angående hur sömmarna skall vara, bra att du kom och rätade till dem. :D

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  2. What a lovely shrug! The bride looks just absolutely beautiful in her ensemble!

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  3. Nina: jätte bra att den blev som du ville! :)

    Berenike: Thanks! And yes, the bried looked just so lovely! :)

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  4. This is beautiful! So delicate and elegant. It's nice to have something that can be easily worn again for special occasions :) How long did it take to finish?

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  5. Rhiannon: Thank you! :) And yes, exactly! The whole point with this wedding present was to make her something she could wear after the wedding too! But about how long it took to finish, well it's hard to say. I started it in April and finished it in the end of June, but I actually didn't have that much time to knit in April and May. So I guess it really took me about a month.

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  6. Just so beautiful! And it goes really well with that wedding dress. (and I can totally see her wearing it with a pair of old worn out jeans and a simple top as well...) Well done you!!

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  7. A-L: thanks! :) I really do hope she'll wear it again someday!

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  8. Oih, miten herkkä pitsibolero. Ihana! :)

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  9. Todella hieno bolero, upea näyte kädentaidoista! Näyttää ihan käsinnyplätyltä, arvokkaalta pitsiltä ja niinhän se tavallaan onkin, vaikka puikoilla syntynyt :)

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  10. Etanaelli: Kiitos paljon! :) Siitä tuli tosiaankin juuri niin kevyt ja ilmava kuin olin toivnut!

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