#shetland lace veil

[roboticchibitan]

[Image ID: a very fine cobweb lace veil pinned out against some children's play mats. End ID]

Well, I finished about 2/3 of the pattern for my friend's veil before I had to bind off and block it. The wedding is on Saturday. I've been doing very poorly health wise and this was Shetland lace so I couldn't work on it while brain foggy AND if I worked on it for more than like an hour and a half I would get post exertion malaise so it just wasn't happening. I would like to give the pattern another go some other time though. It's well written and pretty without being a years long commiment on my part.

[lightlyknitted]

So you want to knit a wedding veil?

If you’re new here, I am knitting my wedding veil. My partner and I are getting married in Sept. 2024 so I knew I had some time to make something that felt authentic to me.

I’m about to dump a ton of information down below because I have thought way too long and way too much about this topic over the last few months and I need to get it out.

So once I had decided on knitting a veil and not a sweater/ shrug or dress I set about doing some research on what others had did. I first went to pinterest, google and reddit. On Reddit I searched r/knitting, weddingplanning, crochet and advanced knitting. As I suspected I found a few others who had knit veils and a couple of patterns I could use.

USING A PATTERN?

Patterns people have used as veils are plenty and have a wide diversity to them. There was Maria’s Veil from Interweave, the Elvenstar and a few others I found searching on Ravelry. Another popular option is to find a Shetland Wedding Ring Shawl and make one of those.

The choice to make my own pattern came from a desire to make it feel unique to me and also not feeling particularly drawn to knitting them. To find the lace patterns I started with looking at a few doily patterns for the center and stitch dictionaries.

SIZING

Size was also important to consider. Wedding Veils can range depending on what kind you want – from birdcages to cathedral. After browsing pinterest for veil suggestions and common bridal looks I knew I wanted it to be longer than a shoulder (about 20 inches) but not hitting the ground. We’re having an outdoor wedding and I can imagine the meltdown I’d have if I got a grass stain on it. A fingertip veil is about 38-40 inches which would work well for a veil and a shawl when the wedding is over. YARN

I am using knit picks bare shadow which is 100% merino lace weight yarn. Because it’s wool, it’s going to be light enough that it shouldn’t cause any headaches while wearing it and be able to hold itself up without too much effort.

Popular options for yarn are merino wool or silk because they are lightweight. There are tons of options for veil yarns like Jamieson’s of Shetland Ultra Lace (the same yarn used for Shetland Lace shawls), Malbrigo Lace, Knit Picks Bare Shimmer Lace and Cascades yarns Heritage silk.

We’re starting with 400 g of yarn and I also picked up an array of beads from my local joanns and michaels. I am using US 3 DPNs and circulars. Bigger needles could be used but I followed the pattern suggestion from the doily in the center.

BEADS

To add some bling and to add some weight I choose to add beads. Seed beads are a common addition and can be found online. Silver-lined have a better color. Beads have tons of sizes and it depends on what size of yarn you’re using, I chose to use 6/0. I could string these and use a crochet hook (in most of them, because I chose cheaper beads they have some inconsistent sizes).

I decided to use ones I found at joanns and michaels because of convenience. I could have gone online and had a better chance at finding more uniform beads but I like the mismatched sizes on some. I got beads in green, taupe, red, blue and a copper blend.

There are two options for placing beads in your knitting. You can string them onto the yarn and then knit them in or you can place them one by one with a crochet hook. Because I didn’t know what beads I wanted to place where, I decided to place them individually.

DESIGN PROCESS

For the shawl, I knew I wanted a circle. Since I haven’t knit a lot of shawls I decided to use a doily pattern for the center for ease. The doily in the center is from “The Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting” and is the pattern Valentine Doily.

I kept all the lace stitches I wanted to use as an eight row repeat for consistency in each section. Each section will be followed by a small section of plain knits for set up and to add a definite start and stop.

I wrote a quick pattern to carry with me and write notes on since I had to return the stitch dictionary to the library. My next step is to knit the shawl. I started with a test with some lace weight yarn I had in my stash. I got through the center and part of the first lace repeat before I moved to the final yarn.

GAUGE

My unblocked gauge gives the center circle a radius of about 4 inches. It is about 7 inches to the first set up rows. My gauge is not extremely important while knitting because as long as I can get a finished radius of around 38 inches I am fine with it.

Gauge is important in knitting, do not get me wrong. For this shawl I am not as concerned with gauge as long as the final project turns out because I find it to be a bit easier to fudge the pattern to make it fit.

I’m still in the beginning stages of this project and hope to have more updates coming soon.

[fashionsfromhistory]

Wedding Ensemble

Mid 1920s

This 1920s bridal outfit is the most complete in our collection, comprising the dress, underdress, veil, head-dress, shoes and two framed photographs. The only important omission is its provenance. Its anonymity adds a touching aspect to the outfit which has been beautifully made, possibly by a member of the bride’s family, and kept together with great care.

The dress follows the fashionable contemporary line with its loose, low-waisted bodice, skirt to just above the ankles, and translucent sleeves that were considered ‘oriental’. The body of the dress is of lightweight cream satin with chiffon sleeves, all the edges being bound, and the curved overlapping front edge of the skirt is densely embroidered with imitation pearls and small metallic beads. A handmade flower marks the top of this opening.

The crepe de chine petticoat, or underdress, is a particular labour of love given that it was a largely unseen part of the outfit. It has a crocheted cotton yoke, the neckline threaded through with faded ‘something blue’ ribbon, and a scalloped crocheted hem with french knots above, its short satin sleeves edged in ‘pearls’ and beads would have been just visible below the chiffon sleeves of the dress. The embroidered net veil was kept in place by the traditional wax orange blossom head-dress worn fashionably low on the head, its original box marked ‘Bridal Wreath 1/6 ½‘ by hand with a printed label ‘ Made in Czechoslovakia’. The cream kid shoes in their box are stamped with their size but no maker.

The two framed photographs seem to have been displayed on the walls of the family home. One shows the bride, who carries a bouquet of lilies and gypsophila, and the groom dressed in a dark lounge suit with a light coloured homburg hat and gloves. This was a common alternative to the formal morning dress and top hats worn at society weddings. In the second photograph the whole wedding party is seated in the back garden of a Victorian terraced house, spanning the generations from the baby seated on its mother’s lap to the elderly lady in the row above the bride. The men are in dark lounge suits with a variety of collar styles reflecting their ages. The little girl on the left wears a dress hand knitted in a shetland lace stitch, and several women wear knitted and crocheted garments suggesting that this is indeed a family of skilled and enthusiastic needlewomen. Three adult bridesmaids in dark broad-brimmed hats carry bouquets of roses and gypsophila, and close examination shows that their dresses echo that of the bride with beaded edging and with just discernible scalloped petticoat hems beneath.

Although we know nothing of the bride and groom, the photographer can be identified from the mounts as ‘J. Games, 64, Lower Clapton Rd, London N. E.’ Joseph Games had fled Latvia, anglising his surname from Gamse, and becoming naturalised in January 1925. His son Abram Games was later a successful graphic artist, best known for his Festival of Britain symbol of 1951.

John Bright Collection

[boneandlace]

For #SecretlyHistoryBound hosted by @designed_by_desiree - Day 11 #Love and Day 13 #Favourite rolled into one. This is one of my favourite things I've ever knitted - a combination of wedding shawl, infinity scarf, veil and lasso (love a good multipurpose garment!), using cobweb and lace yarn from two places close to my heart (the white from Jamieson & Smith in Shetland and the handyed rainbow from Touch Yarns in New Zealand), combining my favourite knitting techniques (colourwork, laceknitting and winging it), in a labour of love for my lockdown wedding (!) last year, a celebration of my relationship with the love of my life and of the other people I love who couldn't be there, who I thought about a lot when choosing the design elements and knitting it. I haven't posted about that here as I don't normally put my face up on this page (it's supposed to be about my handiwork after all), but I might put a picture of us wearing it in my stories later on if you'd like to see how this multifaceted garment worked. The designs are mostly traditional Shetland lace patterns (including some recorded as far back as the 16th century!), along with some traditional Estonian lace motifs, birds inspired by ravens in Migration Era and Viking Era metalwork, and fitted together as the whim took me with freestyled lace patterns to link all the parts together. What I did with the loose ends of coloured yarn was inspired by the use of thread behind the work in shadow embroidery/blackwork, except worked at the same time as the base fabric. The general design aesthetic/balance of line and space was heavily influenced by the years I spent working as a henna artist, drawing lacelike lines onto skin to celebrate similarly important occasions. I even accidentally included the Rebel Alliance badge when attempting to freestyle some flowers 😂 (last image). I loved making it, and I love wearing it (perfect for feeling dressed up for walks on the crisp sunny winter days after our wedding in the autumn). It was very meditative and contemplative to make, and I still find it comforting to look at the different parts of the patterns and think about what and who they represent to me. https://www.instagram.com/p/CNplrscnbOx/?igshid=hdyp25f7083z

[littlewalken]

Sep 10

I wish I had Cure friends who lived near me and we could swap stuff, check out each others stuff etc. I still don’t have copies of the regular versions 1000 Virgins, Best Album Ever, and Last Album Ever? I am saving for the remastered versions, and the photo books, but I’m also waiting to see what turns up for the anniversary and...

The new iShiny works with the iStick. 

Y’all know how it is, all the batteries in your Apple doodads die at once or like you can’t update them any more.

Look, kids on my Tumblr lawn, if you write and art on your tablet you don’t know what it’s like to have a backpack or tote with the notebook/binder, sketchbook, camera, extra pens and pencils, book you’re reading, CD player with extra CDs... Fu#k, no wonder I have back prombles. 

Got a few pages into The Cure A Perfect Dream, there are no recognizable pics of Goff Barbie or New Boi, and so far it’s all common knowledge. Some of the format reminds me of the Daft Punk bio. There’s no reason to even revue this book, unless it’s unfactual, because we all know Cure fans will buy it any way. 

What we need is another fan written book, a comprehensive timeline, artistic POVs on the music, and a balance between hero worshipping Robert and knowing he’s possibly fired people via e-mail. 

Musical differences with Roger’s leaving in 1990 is one thing, knowing it had to do with the dynamics between Robert and Simon and Simon becoming a father and knowing that would have an effect on Porl leaving before becoming a father is another. 

Let the fans hear about the mind numbing times with the Thompson Twins, how amazing was it for Porl to play with his idols in Led Zeppelin, how did Perry get involved with Love Amongst Ruin? 

Why are Roger’s solo albums so plain?

Was Jason really adopted by them after being found as a lost child as Glastonbury 1990 so he technically became property of Fiction Records :p

Yesterday was basically day 2 of Real or Bullshit videos and string. Started to separate one of the Lion shawl cakes in to 2 cakes of 2 strings each but it wasn’t going to work because of how they do the ombre so I put it back together and rewrapped the cake with the opposite end in the center than they had. 

I’m not mad enough to make a Shetland lace wedding veil that can be pulled through a ring yet. 

Yet.

No, seriously I have yet to make anything in a lace knit stitch yet and have only done a couple of small doily and pineapple things. 

More Cure reading today, some stringing or other creating, and perhaps it’s time for the latest catermellon to ripen. 

[roboticchibitan]

[Image ID: The beginning of a cobweb lace wedding veil laid spread out on a cable needle. The lace has zig zags and traditional Shetland lace patterns in it. End ID]

[Image ID: the beginning of a magenta lace shawl, measuring about three inches down the center. End ID]

Lace rot time. Cobweb edition. Well, the magenta is between lace and cobweb weight. It's 2/26 recycled cashmere. Ripped on me twice during swatching but it's held up since then (so far). Probably would be better for weaving but I still haven't set up my loom and I don't have a high enough DPI reed for that anyway. So knitting it is. I'm going to add purple beads once they arrive!

I knit for maybe half an hour today (these pics are both from yesterday). Had to stop cuz my thumb is angry and there's a huge barometric pressure shift today so my hands and pretty much everything else are killing me. I've been dropping things cuz my hands give out. Hurt to lift a cup of tea. I'm slowly going insane bc I desperately want to knit and I can't. But here's what I'm working on, for the curious.

[roboticchibitan]

My pakidge of 750m/25g yarn has not arrived yet. I ordered it a month ago. It's not got tracking. And it's coming from the UK where they had a mandatory mourning period and now apparently postal workers are striking. So idk when this yarn will get here and it's for a person's wedding veil which means there's a deadline.

I'm trying to gauge how long this project is going to take me so I can decide if I'm going to wait for the yarn to get here or go ahead and knit it in a slightly thicker yarn I have on hand if the package isn't here in the next few weeks. It doesn't LOOK that bad. It's Shetland lace but it's fairly simple and only takes a few hundred beads. So I am debating.

Overall I'm sitting here like

[roboticchibitan]

It is! I'm making a Shetland lace veil cuz I've always wanted to knit with this yarn and the pattern I found fits her dress best! Making this pattern

I'm waiting for some heirloom knitting 899yd (725 m)/25g yarn to get to me so I can start knitting my oldest friend's wedding veil. We've known each other for 20 years and she was my first love at 8 years old (when I didn't know being gay was an option) and I am honored to get to contribute to her big day. Also a little bit sitting here looking at my notifications like "PAKIDGE????" because I COULD be knitting cobweb knits right now but I can't because I'm waiting to use those needles for this project.

[roboticchibitan]

The mother of the bride complimented my work at the wedding!

[Image ID: a very fine cobweb lace veil pinned out against some children's play mats. End ID]

Well, I finished about 2/3 of the pattern for my friend's veil before I had to bind off and block it. The wedding is on Saturday. I've been doing very poorly health wise and this was Shetland lace so I couldn't work on it while brain foggy AND if I worked on it for more than like an hour and a half I would get post exertion malaise so it just wasn't happening. I would like to give the pattern another go some other time though. It's well written and pretty without being a years long commiment on my part.

[roboticchibitan]

Oh right since @sorchaivy asked, the pattern is here

[Image ID: a very fine cobweb lace veil pinned out against some children's play mats. End ID]

Well, I finished about 2/3 of the pattern for my friend's veil before I had to bind off and block it. The wedding is on Saturday. I've been doing very poorly health wise and this was Shetland lace so I couldn't work on it while brain foggy AND if I worked on it for more than like an hour and a half I would get post exertion malaise so it just wasn't happening. I would like to give the pattern another go some other time though. It's well written and pretty without being a years long commiment on my part.

[roboticchibitan]

[Image ID: the same veil draped across a hand. The hand is almost completely visible through the veil. End ID]

Closeup! Also I forgot to tag this as lace rot disease.

[Image ID: a very fine cobweb lace veil pinned out against some children's play mats. End ID]

Well, I finished about 2/3 of the pattern for my friend's veil before I had to bind off and block it. The wedding is on Saturday. I've been doing very poorly health wise and this was Shetland lace so I couldn't work on it while brain foggy AND if I worked on it for more than like an hour and a half I would get post exertion malaise so it just wasn't happening. I would like to give the pattern another go some other time though. It's well written and pretty without being a years long commiment on my part.

[roboticchibitan]

Thank you! I'm quite pleased with it. If I'd had two more days I would've reached a better stopping point in the pattern but oh well. It's still pretty.

[Image ID: a very fine cobweb lace veil pinned out against some children's play mats. End ID]

Well, I finished about 2/3 of the pattern for my friend's veil before I had to bind off and block it. The wedding is on Saturday. I've been doing very poorly health wise and this was Shetland lace so I couldn't work on it while brain foggy AND if I worked on it for more than like an hour and a half I would get post exertion malaise so it just wasn't happening. I would like to give the pattern another go some other time though. It's well written and pretty without being a years long commiment on my part.