I’m sorry, but unblocked lace is b*tt ugly!! It just is! Look at this blob — would you want it as a gift? Would you want to knit it for yourself?
Blocking is certainly a help! I decided to try using the bed in our guest room as a blocking surface. The idea of crawling around on my decrepit hands and knees wore me out. It worked quite well for this relatively small piece:
And see how Lettie is overseeing the blocking process?
The knitted pillow is a former UFO that I made into a pillow. It was a sweater that never got off the ground — it sat for years in a bag. The back was at least 4 inches wider than the front, due to either my bad miscalculation (lots of cabling on the front, plain basketweave on the back — does the word “compensate” mean anything?) or a poorly written pattern. It was so long ago I can’t remember. I grafted the ribbing from the back of the sweater to the top of the front for symmetry and length, and used the back as the back of the pillow. So I got a pillow out of the deal, which is more than I can say about my other UFOs ;).
I am going to give this Hemlock Ring to a dear muggle friend and make another immediately for another muggle friend. We’ll see if after making two I have the stamina to make a third for me. They are two people that really do appreciate handknits and so I have made special things for them in the past.
Now I’m off to wind a skein for the second Hemlock. By my reckoning, since the first one took a week to knit, the second should take at least 3-4 weeks? Months? If I want it for Christmas, there is no time to waste!
PS — I had quite a bit of yarn left over. You could easily make this larger with just the two skeins.
In response to Susanne: I blocked my Hemlock Ring to a full 48-50″ HOWEVER, when I unpinned it, it snapped back to about 44″. It also looks a little wonky, not crisp like Brooklyn Tweed’s. So, before I post finished pictures, I plan on repinning it and steaming the daylights out of it. It may be a day or two before I feel motivated to repin the lil sucker!
It looks great blocked out. I can’t wait to start one of my own.
Comment by Astrid — September 1, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
I really love this pattern. I may have to make one to use as a Christmas tree skirt. Lettie is stunning, is she your grandmother? BTW I decided against the Eris sweater. The pattern scared the b’jesus out of me!
Comment by marie — September 1, 2007 @ 5:14 pm
From Susan — Yes that is “Lettie” my grandmother. I first showed her picture way back when (https://theraineysisters.com/?p=383). I am named for my Grandma Lettie cuz everyone called her Sue. A tree skirt is an intriguing idea — any ideas on how you would place the split??
Comment by lv2knit — September 1, 2007 @ 5:21 pm
Very pretty! I was going to ask about the pillow. That’s great that the sweater got another chance at life! Thanks for the instructions as to how to make those “big holes”.
Comment by Marina — September 1, 2007 @ 5:53 pm
I’m now even more enamored with the hemlock – she is so beautiful all pinned up. Absolutely love how Lettie came about, very creative re-use.
Comment by michelle — September 1, 2007 @ 6:06 pm
Lovely! And in a week??? Are you SURE you’re not a professional knitter? LOL!
Comment by AuntieAnn — September 1, 2007 @ 7:06 pm
Oh, my gosh, you are fast! A week? It looks great, too!
Comment by kmkat — September 1, 2007 @ 7:25 pm
Gorgeous! You inspire such great ideas! The pillow is a beauty too, waste knot, want knot!
Comment by Carol — September 1, 2007 @ 7:28 pm
I love it! Great job!
Comment by Octopus Knits — September 1, 2007 @ 7:56 pm
You knit that in a week!? It is gorgeous. That website has a number of doilys that would make great blankets.
Comment by Ann — September 1, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
You’re finished already?
What?
*Looks down at partial Silver Belle sleeve and thinks about drinking heavily.*
Comment by surly — September 1, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
About the tree skirt – I thought about a. leaving out the center medallion and putting the tree into the stand through the hole, b. using steeks, or c. sewing 2 running stitches between a feather and fan, cutting, and hemming with bias tape then sewing on ties. a. seems like the most painless way…
I have to stop thinking about Christmas or I may break out in hives:)!
Comment by marie — September 1, 2007 @ 9:35 pm
I really like the scallopy edges. And thanks for explaining the pillow. I was admiring it along with the lace. Both are quite lovely!
Comment by LaurieM — September 2, 2007 @ 9:44 am
What a creative use for a UFO. The Hemlock ring is gorgeous.
Comment by Gale — September 2, 2007 @ 11:38 am
Your hemlock is gorgeous. Lucky Muggle friends!
Comment by Jewel — September 2, 2007 @ 11:44 am
A comment on percent knitted so far. If you use number of rows knitted and total number of rows instead of inches, you come up with a more accurate percentage because you don’t have to worry about shrinkage or how much to stretch. This works both for trinangular and circular shawls. Since a trinagualar shawl is two mirror image triangles (= a square), with the number of rows running down the middle, you square the number of rows knitted and divide by the square of the total number of rows. I have been using this to measure my very slow peacock progress — it didn’t help that I had to rip back 2 lifelins from 50% to 30% because I discovered a heretofore hidden dropped stitch. Likewise for a circle, the number of rows is a measure of the radius and can be used just as easily as inches.
Comment by Astrid — September 2, 2007 @ 4:28 pm
Your Hemlock looks gorgeous!!! I have to use all my strength not to buy yarn for it. ;)(have too many UFOs allready)
Comment by lillysmuul — September 2, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
Can you give us the finished dimensions or did I miss that? inches across for example? thanks, it is gorgeous…hope mine turns out as well.
Comment by Susanne — September 3, 2007 @ 9:52 am
Just Gorgeous! I wish that was my guest room! :op
Comment by Stacey_CrimsonPurl — September 3, 2007 @ 5:14 pm
It’s lovely! 🙂
Comment by Romi — September 3, 2007 @ 6:36 pm
Susan,
Have you ever sprayed your blocked lace with a LITTLE spray starch? I often give my lace a little spray and it gives it a little body and helps it stay in shape.
Yvonne, Red Hat Knitter
Comment by Yvonne — September 3, 2007 @ 11:45 pm
Susan,
A friend told me about using rubber mat puzzle pieces sold in the children’s furniture department at Target. Now I block my items on the kitchen counter, then carry it to the floor to save my arthritic knees. The pieces can be arranged in any shape to fit the piece of knitting and pins do not leave holes in the rubber. The last post on my blog shows a sweater blocked on them. (And they are on sale now and come in a nice plastic zippered bag.
Comment by Yvonne — September 3, 2007 @ 11:49 pm