Knitted Lace of Estonia 在 2008 年一出版, 就想織封面這條披肩. 但因為沒有對的線, 一直都沒開工. 這也許是好事, 因為編織這條披肩的過程中, 發現了很多細節和問題, 是之前從沒想過碰過的. 真的要動手織了, 才會明瞭.
In spring, I
learned that C has been buying undyed Estonian cobweb lace for hand
painting, I asked her to keep 2 hanks for me. She asked what I planned
to do with it, I told her I need them to knit the Crown Prince. She was
intrigues and immediately said she would knit it, too, with me. And
several other knitter friends joined us for a mini knit along.
今年春天, 聽說 C 進了愛沙尼亞蜘蛛絲蕾絲線來染, 馬上請她留兩絞. 她問我要拿來織什麼, 我說王儲. 聽完我的解釋, 她馬上要跟我一起織. 後來, 陸續有幾位熟識的織女朋友, 也一起加入這個迷你群織.
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100g 1400m 100% wool
100 克 1400 公尺 100% 羊毛
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We started at the end of June, when we got our yarn. This is the first shawl I knitted from this book. I've knitted quite a few Estonian lace shawls: several Swallowtail, several Percy, and Sofia Scarf. None of them were knitted with cobweb. Really wanted to used the right yarn.
六月底, 當大家都拿到線, 或準備好線時, 就開始織. 這本書中, 織的第一條, 就是王儲. 愛沙尼亞風的蕾絲披肩織過不少條: 幾條 Swallowtail (燕尾), 幾條 Percy (珀西) 和 Sofia (蘇菲亞). 沒有一條是用蜘蛛絲. 真的很想規規矩矩地用蜘蛛絲來織.
Or so I thought.
我以為這樣就 OK 了.
Had quite a tough time starting out. Frogged several times. First time I used circular needles, the knit cast-on edge wasn't satisfactory but I went on. The garter stitch gauge was terrible, like the cat jumped on it, was what AH described. So I started over. The knit cast-on edge was better, so was the garter stitch gauge. It was better because I consciously tug after every stitch, and it resulted in too tight the stitches and they snagged while being pushed forward from the cable to the needle and evetually, the yarn broke. Had to start over again. This time, I used a pair of short double-ended needles of my mom's. Surprisingly, the knit cast-on was great, the gauge was GOOD, and I actually CAN relax while knitting not straining my hands. It was then I realize the benefit of straight needles, which I wasn't a fan of. The gauge is way better. As to why Estonians use short ones, because the cobweb stitched can all fit onto them, and being short there are no extra weight of the needle weighing on the hands. And they are convenient to carry around, just like circular needles!
起頭就讓我踢到鐵板. 拆了好幾次. 第一次, 用輪針, knit cast-on 結果不甚滿意, 但繼續織下去. 到了 garter stitch (起伏針) 部分, 密度真的是爛到可以, AH 姐姐說像是被貓跳上去蹂躪過一樣. 所以, 重來. 第 2 次, 還是輪針, 但起針好些了, 密度也好點. 那是因為每一針打完後有拉一下. 這樣密度看起來好, 但是其實針目變太緊, 要推針目時不容易推到針頭上, 會卡在接頭處, 最後, 線就斷了. 再重來. 這次去老媽家翻出她的短雙頭棒針來用, 織出來結果出人意料: 起針超讚的, 很整齊; 密度很好; 重點是, 手可以放輕鬆織. 我才領悟到直針的好處. 一直以來就不喜歡棒針, 因為多針目的需要長棒針, 很重, 手很痛, 但是密度卻很好. 愛沙尼亞人用短棒針織蕾絲, 是因為用蜘蛛絲線, 再多的針目, 都可以通通擠在短棒針上, 沒有長棒針的多餘重量, 而且攜帶起來跟輪針一樣方便!
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1st CO with circ and 7-st nupp
第 1 次起針. 輪針. 還是 7 針扁扣.
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2nd CO with circ and 7-st nupp
第 2 次起針. 還是輪針 & 7 針扁扣.
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3rd CO with dp & 9-st nupp
第 3 次起針. 雙頭短棒針. 9 針扁扣.
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But, the needles I used were metal ones. They were heavy when my hands are tired and knitting with small needles and fine yarn my hand tired very quickly. In the end, I orderd some ebony and rose wood single point needles. And, they are a dream to work with.
只不過, 老媽的短雙頭棒針是金屬的, 有點重量, 手容易累. 細針細線的更容易累. 最後, 還是訂了黑檀木和紫檀木的短棒針. 真的好好用.
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4rd CO with ebony dp & 9-st nupp
第 4 次起針. 黑檀木短棒針. 9 針扁扣.
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All the nupps I made with previous shawls were mostly 7-stitch nupps. I really like the strong contrast of the nupps with the airy lacey cobweb background, so I made 9-stitch nupps. The center progressed s l o w l y . . .
以前織愛沙尼亞蕾絲披肩的特色扁扣 nupp 時, 都是做 7 針的. 我比較喜歡對比強烈的, 覺得白白一顆顆扁扣在空氣感蜘蛛絲蕾絲底上的感覺超讚, 所以這次做的是 9 針的. 披肩的中心部分針的是以龜 速 在 長 . . .
以前織愛沙尼亞蕾絲披肩的特色扁扣 nupp 時, 都是做 7 針的. 我比較喜歡對比強烈的, 覺得白白一顆顆扁扣在空氣感蜘蛛絲蕾絲底上的感覺超讚, 所以這次做的是 9 針的. 披肩的中心部分針的是以龜 速 在 長 . . .
