VK Lacy Dress

Yarn: Patons Grace (100% mercerized cotton), color #61005 Snow - 16 balls (136yd [125m] / 50g)
Pattern: Vogue Knitting 2007 Spring/Summer Issue
Needles: Addi Turbo US size 6 (4mm) / 24" (60cm) & 32" (80cm) circulars
Size: Chest circumference 34"
Duration: 2007/03/30 - 2007/11/13

線材: Patons Grace (100% 棉), 色號#61005 雪白 - 16 球 (136yd [125m] / 50g)
圖樣: Vogue Knitting 雜誌 2007 春/夏季刊
針號: 4mm/60cm & 80cm 輪針
尺寸: 胸圍86cm
製作日期: 2007/03/30 - 2007/11/13

This project really tested my patience and determination. It took forever! Although the lacy bodice and acorn edging kept the knitting interesting, it's the sheer large surface area of it that wore me out. I chose to knit the bodice and the sleeves first, and then the bottom tier of the skirt. Looking back, I think it is the right decision. If I had to knit the bottom tier first, I probably would have given up half way through the 290-sts-per-row-for-54-rows-twice pieces. It was just too much of the same thing. And I could hardly hold all the stitches on the 32" long circular.

這個project真的是考驗耐心和毅力, 織的有夠久啦! 常常想自己是不是吃飽閒閒沒事找事做, 自討苦吃. 雖然蕾絲花樣織起來蠻有意思, 可是實在是太大片了, 織多了還是覺得無聊. 這件我是先織上身和袖子, 最下面也是最大片的裙擺留到最後才織. 那也是織來最痛苦的一段, 每段290針目織54段要織兩片, 針目多到我80cm輪針都快抓不住了, 實在很累人.



I did make one little mistake though. One of the notes in the pattern said to make sure all the acorns are pointed in the same directions. Well, since I took my time to make this dress, by the time I started the sleeves, two months had already passed since I finished the bodice. I actually started knitting the sleeves on the plane to Chicago in August. To keep my luggage light, I did not bring the finished bodice with me, so I couldn’t look up which way the acorns were pointing. I just thought, well, usually row 1 is the right/public side, and so I continued to finish both sleeves. It was not until I tried to put the pieces together that I realized, the acorns on the bodice were pointing in the wrong direction. I thought about just leaving the acorns in “insert 2” pointing one way, and all others pointing the opposite way, but it just looked too obvious to me. Finally I decided to have the acorns in the sleeves pointing one way, and all others pointing the opposite direction. I guess if I don’t say anything, people wouldn’t notice the difference, right?

這件洋裝有些小小的織錯. 本來所有花邊裡的橡果都應該朝同一個方向的, 可是我實在是擱下太久, 都不記得已經織好的上身裡橡果是朝哪邊. 袖子是八月去芝加哥時在飛機上開工的, 因為不想帶太多東西, 織好的兩個身片就沒帶著, 所以只好自己瞎猜繼續下去. 後來把所有的織片湊起來才發現方向不一樣, 有想過錯的”insert 2”就算了, 把其他的方向調成一樣就好, 後來自己看看還是覺得怪. 最後決定, 身體和裙子部位的橡果朝一邊, 袖子的橡果朝另一邊. 我想如果我不說, 應該不會有人看出來吧?



I also added acorn edging along the bottom panel. I think the original design looked great without it, but somehow my version just looked ‘”unfinished” (even after blocking). So I knitted two strips of acorn edging (80 repeats each) and sewed them along the bottom. This added quite a bit of weight to the dress. I used 1.5 balls of yarn just for this part. But I really like the effect.

裙子下擺也多加了一段蕾絲, 其實我覺得原設計裡沒有蕾絲也很好看, 可是我的織好後看起來就覺得好像少了什麼, 好像沒有完工的感覺, 於是決定滾個邊. 織了兩條橡果花邊(每條有80個花樣重複)後縫上去, 用了1.5球的線, 整件衣服也變重了, 不過我覺得效果還不錯.



I think I’ll like this dress. Well, since there’s no way I could squeeze my 7-month-pregnant tummy into this dress, I can only guess how it would have fit my pre-pregnancy body. Hopefully I will lose enough baby weight by next summer so I may actually be able to wear it.

我猜這件穿起來應該還不錯看吧? 這件洋裝從沒懷孕織到現在懷孕七個多月, 近期內是不可能試穿了, 目測是覺得依照以前的身材應該是可以穿, 希望到明年夏天可以有機會穿.