Saturday, April 14, 2007

Rose beads on Margaret Tudor

Fellow Knitsmiths, Nancy, has taken time for me to select some beads for Margaret Tudor. She has her atelier on Newbury Street and is close to a bead shop. I trust her taste for good reason. The first choice, matt finished beads shaped like a rose.



The second choice, oval shaped beads with considerably shinier finish.



We decided that the first is the right one. Its round shape and 'rose' are perfect features for this design, don't you think? I am now finished with 10 panels! That is, all the body panels are done. I went ahead and assembled all the body panels except for the side seams and knit the neck band and hem bands. I made the body narrower by eliminating 12 stitches from front and back bodies, keeping the armhole shaping and neck opening intact. This means that the shoulder width is narrowed by 6 stitches and I was anxious to find out how much I need to lengthen sleeves. After trying it on, it was clear that I need to add quite a lot to the sleeve length: one more thistle pattern needs to be added. I think I got lucky. Just a minor math of adjusting the increase pattern.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Lizard Ridge Afghan finished!



I used 24 balls of Noro Kureyon to knit 30 panels. For the edging, I was not quite satisfied with the original pattern instruction and did somewhat fancier version from this pattern book by Hirose Mitsuharu.
オリジナルより大きめにしたかったので、野呂さんのくれよんを24玉使ってパネルを30枚あみました。エッジングはKnitty のパターンにしたがわず、広瀬光春さんのパターンを使いました。

Pardon me for the poor quality of the close up below. Hopefully, you get the idea of what was done differently.
あまりよく撮れてませんが、エッジングのアップです。



It was an absolutely fun and satisfying project from the beginning to the end. I don't know how Mr. Noro Eisaku does it, but his colors are just gorgeous. They are really captivating. The designer, Laura Aylor, used Kureyon so cleverly. I am grateful to both! DDs were impressed more than any other projects I've ever done. They requested to have one each. We shall see.
最初から最後まで、興味を失うことなく随分速く編めました。 野呂栄作さんの糸の色使いは素晴らしく、一度編み始めるとなかなか止められません。 デザイナーのLaura Aylorさんの引き返し編みの使い方には慣れるまで少し手こずりましたが、よく出来ています。 私の娘たちも気に入って、欲しいと言われ、ニッコリです。

追記: 日本語で書くのって、ずいぶん難しいです。おかしな日本語になっているかもしれません。 これから、少しずつ日本語で書くつもりです。 宜しく!