Nearly Collared

I moved on to the collar after completing the buttonbands.  Aside from the entrelac knitting, which was new for me before I worked on this sweater, I was intrigued by the use of short rows in the collar and on the undersides of the sleeves.  When I started the collar and got to the row before the short-row shaping, the instruction that a 4 1/2 inch collar finally sunk in.  When I'm not tremendously confident in a pattern, I begin to question everything--4 1/2 inches seemed huge.  And since the gauge measure was so far off for me, and there were no hints about knitting the bottom so it wouldn't pull along the pickup edge, I thought this would be wrong too.  But, in this case the pattern was right and I was wrong.  A 4 1/2-inch collar will work well because the short-row shaping gives it a nice roll.

I'm not tremendously skilled in short-row shaping.  I have used it only for shoulders until now, but it is something I plan to practice.  The method of construction for this collar is quite like that in the IK Winter 2005 article by Veronik Avery, and looking at that description gave me confidence to keep knitting.

This collar is also the second try because there was a color change at the point where I wrapped and turned for the first time, and it made the collar look asymmetrical.  So I opted again for some of the more subtle hues in the yarn.  There are red patches coming though.

This photo (which finally shows the green as it actually looks) also shows the buttons I bought at Tender Buttons on Tuesday.  The buttons are a reddish brown and they complement the yarn nicely.  And they're similar to other buttons I've bought and liked for knitted sweaters--English horn, with a matte finish.  I just wish they were cheaper!

Tuesday was a completely wonderful day.  After my button buying, I headed to the Metropolitan Museum to meet my friend Mary Anne.  We saw the new Greek and Roman galleries, the exhibit of the Poiret clothes, and the showing of Venice and the Islamic world.  I splurged and bought the poster.  I hope to frame and hang that in my sewing/knitting room that is undergoing renovation now.

All the exhibits were excellent, but if you like 1920s fashions and are close enough to see this exhibit, I'd recommend it.  One particularly fascinating display was a hologram-type graphic that illustrated how Poiret would drape an evening dress.  I can only imagine clothes as flat patterns, and draping seems like magic to me.  It still seems like magic, but the computer generated illustration of the garment's construction made it less so.

And, back when I finished my shawl, I said a modeling picture would be forthcoming.  Mary Anne had the good sense to wear a black sweater that shows it off well.  Here is a shot taken at the Met's Temple of Dendur:

It ended up being larger than I thought, but I do like the way it turned out.

Comments

[Dave]

Those buttons look perfect! The Seraphim looks very elegant -- that's one of my favourite patterns, classy with not so much going on that the motif can't shine.

[TECHknitter]

The sweater is VERY nice--the shawl is LOVELY! Congratulations Marjorie--I have always been impressed with your methodical manner of moving through, from CO to FO.

--TECHknitter

[Judy G]

I did not realize that this was your first foray into entrelac. Wow! That's an ambitious first go! It looks great. The buttons look just right (and I'm still impressed that there is a store devoted to buttons!). The shawl is beautiful. This sounds like I'm a raving agreeable fan. I am.

[Robin]

The entrelac looks amazing - nice work! - and the buttons are perfect. Nice shawl too!

On the draping, actually that makes more sense to me than flat patterns, so I am actually pretty excited about eventually learning about it in that fashion design program! There is a whole class for it that I will definitely be taking.

[tiennie]

Almost there! The shawl is fantastic!

[Sylvie]

What a beautiful job you've done! I like the buttons you've chosen. The collar looks really nice.

The shawl is REALLY nice too!