Rose of England

[firstfrost]

The Rose of England tablecloth is finally done. Well, done knitting, and then done binding off with the itty bitty crochet hook. It is pinned out with Not Enough Pins (see pictures); once I get more pins tomorrow, I'll finish pinning it and then block it.

It's a magnificent piece. I can say this without bragging, because I realize (especially as I was pinning it) - there is an amazing amount of artistry involved, and it's all Marianne Kinzel's (from the Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting). I provided patience, and some amount of competence - but I just followed the directions, and it is in the directions that all the beauty lives.

Comments

[merastra.livejournal.com]

Woah... That is very very impressive. :-) Very cool. But I shall have to flay you with a wet noodle for although the pattern came from elsewhere, the skill and perserverance to pull it off are amazing in and of themselves. I understand you also keep a day job and upkeep a myriad of other timesinks.

[mijven.livejournal.com]

Wow. I don't think there's more to say than that. Oh yeah, where will this be displayed in your home?

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

It's a (late) wedding present for my step-sister, so "In Seattle". :)

(I might make a lace runner for our dining room table some time, though. This was kinda fun, though it did take approximately forever...)

[jadia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'll have to concur. That's gorgeous. :)

Also, you must have an enormous amount of patience. And skill. :)

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Wowwwwww. That is beautiful.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's really cool.
(and don't go underestimating patience, competence, and the ability to appreciate beauty when you find it.)

[greyautumnrain.livejournal.com]

Its amazing! Thousands of stiches per row in lace weight yarn is more that just 'patience'.

[kelkyag]

It's more fun to drool over in person, but on the net, I don't have to resist petting it and getting it dirty. :) I still think it's a shawl, though, being wool. My poor fuddled brain thinks tablecloths are always cotton or linen.

I wonder how many times the pattern author knitted up variations of it in making the pattern. That's a scary thought.

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

The book itself has two versions, the tablecloth (http://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/KnitIndex/html/pix/lacetwo%20018.jpg) and the smaller "tea cloth (http://stuff.mit.edu/~boojum/KnitIndex/html/pix/lacetwo%20019.jpg)".

(username knit, password purl)

Oh, the other amazing thing about this pattern (and the rest of the patterns in the two books - there are no errata. Because there are no mistakes. At least, none that have been found in the thirty-odd years since it was published. For those unfamiliar with knitting pattern books, that is very unusual.

[twe.livejournal.com]

No errata does sound unusual, especially for something so complicated. Wow.

Did the pattern call for wool specifically, or did you just pick wool because you like to work with it? (I admit that I too have trouble seeing wool as a table cloth rather than a shawl too.)

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

Well, she can use it as a shawl if she likes, I suppose. :)

The pattern would traditionally be made in linen or cotton, or possibly silk, but while I do have a lot of patience, I don't have enough patience for that much inflexibility.

Words

[kelkyag]

(This finally percolated through my brain.)

Marianne Kinzel provided the artistry; you provided the craftsmanship. Both are required to make a piece of that quality. Don't undervalue the craftsmanship.