Thursday, November 30, 2006

How do you wear lace?

I have a problem. I love to knit lace. But I rarely wear it. Why? well...the occasion often doesn't present itself...or with the triangular shawls that I seem drawn to - they point to my uh...butt. At least they do in the manner that I instinctly don one of these shawls - which is to pick it up, and wrap it around my shoulders with the center seam straight down my spine. Now, even if I had a perfectly apple shaped jiggle free derriere, I don't think I'd want anything pointing at it.

So in search of some hints on how to wear my growing collection of shawls I sent out some queries on some mailing lists I belong to - and I've gotten several suggestions - if you've got some to add, I'd love to hear em!

Suggestions so far have included:
- Around the waist/hips like a sarong
- Draped with the point down one arm with the ends either tied, pinned or simply slung over the opposite shoulder
- Draped in a similar fashion with the ends tied or secured under the other arm near the waist
- Fold the point down, and place it at the neckline on the inside or outside, wearing the shawl like a trapezoidal stole
- Over your head and tied at the neck (if the shawl is small enough to accommodate this style)
- Worn over the shoulders and tied behind the back to prevent it from slipping down (but this style leaves the point pointing you know where...

So why my fascination? Well, the Swallow Tail is done :) See?
Larger photos, and more information can be found on the Finished Objects Blog.

True to my lace obsession I've cast on for the Shetland Triangle Shawl already (along with a pair of socks).

8 comments:

Marianne said...

I know I left this comment on KnitBlue but seriously, Absolutely stunning!

Oiyi said...

Wow, it is gorgeous! The detail is amazing.

I never knew about the shawl pointing at the butt thing since I have never knit a shawl, but now I might think about it twice. I have always wanted to knit a shawl, but I don't have any occassion or place to wear one.

Anonymous said...

That is a GORGEOUS lace pattern.

(you forgot about the make-a-shawl-long-enough-it-covers-your-behind suggestion)

Knitted lace?

...seriously?

Unknown said...

I had friends in Michigan who inherited a croceted piece form relitives who lived in eastern europe. it looked as if it was crochted with sewing thread. Anyway they mounted the piece on forrest green velor type board and framed it with a very ornate gold frame and hung it on the wall above the fireplace. If you did that it the piece would not point to your butt.

Kate A. said...

I wore my huge Icarus around my waist like a sarong at Knit Out NY just because it was too bloody hot to wear any other way, and I was surprised by how much I actually liked the look. It was with jeans and a plain black t-shirt. I think that's what I'll do in future, because when I wore it with a little black (or white) dress, I just ended up fussing with it all evening and worrying about it falling and touching the floor (when out anywhere in NYC the floor is always filthy; that's a given).

Anonymous said...

First, I don't worry about it, I love my triangular shawls, and honestly don't care what others think about how it looks.
Second, you could switch to making rectangular or circular shawls.

Run fast. :-)

bittenbyknittin said...

I am just finishing this shawl, and have a couple of helpful hints for anyone else interested in this pattern. One is to put stitch markers two stitches in from each end, to remind you to knit the first/last two stitches. Also, periodically run a thread of waste yarn (like corded cotton) through the stitches, so if you run into problems and need to back up, you have a safety net.

Beautiful work!

Erica said...

I'm not necessarily sure how she did it exactly, but Anne over at www.knitspot.com had some pretty shawl photos for her casino shawl that you could check out. Congrats on your race!!!!!!!