Outlander....

April 16:

Someone in my friends list on Ravelry send me a message that there is a mention of a lace shawl in the Jamieson & Smith group. They are trying to find out which shawl it is and if it is possible to recreate it.

April 16:
I read the thread and am instantly interested. I wrote:

I’ve seen a similar lace shawl in the movie A Royal Affair. Couldn’t make it out either. After watching the credits I tried to find pictures of the costume designers collection, but it wasn’t there.

This was my first step into a very large and interesting project. I didn't know if any of my experience would be needed, but I stuck my nose in anyway.

After some searching we could make out the centre pattern and did some 'cut & paste' to get something going.
In the meantime I tried to find out more about the show. "Outlander". Low and behold, it was on the tv in Belgium, Friday evening.

April 19:
Watching the show. I see a LOT of tweed. It's gorgeous. Sorry to say the story is quite 'slow'. I haven't read the book(s), but I do love the surroundings and scenes shot in Scotland.
First swatch is made:

April 21:
Together with Laura and DominiqueBe we look at swatches and compare them with the screen shot.

Pretty close, right?  Second swatch made: 

April 29: 
Now what? Am I diving in head first and make an entire (new) shawl? Or do I help with developing?
Ordered some yarn, Mohair- merino and thought that if I started with the centre pattern, the rest would come later..

May 3: 
Searching the Shetland Museum and Archives website, I find a shawl that has a similar centre pattern:

Because we couldn't find a good screenshot of the entire shawl, when the camera zooms out, the lace gets 'lost'... , this was all we had to go on.

Laura tried to get a better view of the shawl. The episode didn't air in Belgium, due to the summer break.
A friend, Belinda, helped out too with vidcaps. They tried to freeze the frame and save that image. But it was only enough to see a pointy edge.

May 6: 
Made another swatch. It didn't go well in the end, but it looked better already.
I thought it was a bit tight. The birdseyes in the top were NOT like in the screenshot.

May 10: 
The yarn came in and I started right away. Calculations were close enough to get things going.

You can see by the size of my hand, this wasn't "Delicate" lace at all. I put it aside and took some grey yarn with a finer gauge and started over.
I was a bit hesitant. Should I get involved in such a big project?

May 22: 

I got as far as with the mohair.. This was much finer, but I wasn't happy with the colour... I thought that a Shetland shawl should be made in Shetland yarn.

June 10: 
Belinda has a better screen shot. Now I can see the size of the shawl. She's wearing it double and it still is sheer.

KathyMary suggests (as others have in other threads) to make contact with the costume department.

I'm hesitant, someone else has tried it. And didn't hear back.

June 19:

Another vidcap by Belinda reveals after close inspection there is a faint zigzag in the border. I stop knitting on the grey shawl...

Also June 19:
Tweeted Terry Dresbach (the costume designer for the Outlander Series) and asked about the shawl.

The first tweet got lost but the second: 

(2/2) Can you tell us anything of a source/knitter/pattern? It's so rare to see #finelace in a costume series. Thank you 

Terry replied!

it's an antique piece I found.

Then me:

may I be as bold and ask you if you still have it?  we, a knitting group on Ravelry, are trying to recreate it. 

Terry:

we do. Seriously? That's mad. I can give you a pic of the lace but not right away [...]

Me:

that would be brilliant! thank you. No rush #relief.

Oh my! It is happening!

June 24:

Terry:

here you go!

Oh no!!! This is SOOOO unexpected. It's GORGEOUS! Look at those stars... The arches..
This is a whole other ball game!
I thanked Terry and told her this was all we needed.
All doubts melted away. This was an awesome chance to get some Serious Lace done. I'm in!

So... Swatching began AGAIN. Making whole new charts. Calculations.. This is big.
I even found a picture of some ladies posing with a similar shawl. The border is much wider, but the stars are the same. And you have a good indication of size too.

 Source: Shetland Museum and Archives

Conclusion 1: the shawl is an antique. That means it is handspun. That means that I will have to use very fine yarn. Gossamer at least to make the size similar. I can spin, but not as fine as the Shetland ladies back in the days.
Conclusion 2: Not everyone will make a shawl this size! I will have to make alterations in the pattern so one can choose to knit a rectangle shawl with the same patterns / parts. This way, it's available for more people.

June 25:
Ella Gordon from the Jamieson & Smith Woolbrokers informed us about the ladies in the picture being the "Sutherlands". And came up with a photo from later in life:



Later that day, Dominique send me some pictures from the Museum of a shawl with stars she saw on display. The coin dropped and I viewed back my archive and yes: I've seen the same shawl.
There are similar components, but spacing is different. But it never hurts to have a good close up.

July 6:
Charting is an ongoing process. Even when swatching I made minor adjustments.
But... it looked pretty close to the original.

 First: the edge. A little tweek here and there.

The star. It needed just a bit more room. And the upside down flower needed some more work.

I had decided earlier that (especially) an antique shawl from Shetland, should be recreated with original Shetland yarn. The only option was: 1/16NM Gossamer (1ply) Natural Jamieson & Smith yarn.
I'm working with 2mm needles (US0). I mentioned before that the original is handspun, so this is as close as I can get.
Calculations give me for the squared version over 500.000 stitches. The rectangle will have approx. 210.000 stitches. I can't tell you how large it will be, but my prediction will be around 6+ feet square.

July 8:
Casted on with the gossamer 1ply and worked the first border. My dear test knitter Sue is working on the rectangle version. She's getting rid of all bugs and makes a perfect example for you to decide whether or not to knit the square or the rectangle.

 The yarn came in on 2 cones. It's approx. 20 balls of yarn. That should be plenty.

I don't know when the pattern will be available. But somewhere later this year is the goal. Think November or December. It will be a paid pattern (not free). Credit will be given, where credit is due. (As I've done here, please notify me if I have forgotten something/someone)

And you will be able to find it under a new name: The Shetland Star Shawl.
The ORIGINAL shawl has been purchased by Terry and is not specifically designed for the Outlander series.
(copyright and other stuff...)

Ready for a cut and paste preview???

So... if you don't hear from me for a while: I'm busy...

The Second One.

 Zo'n 4 jaar geleden, heb ik hier op mijn blog mijn prachtige shawl "The One" laten zien. Jéétje wat was ik trots. Nu nog eigenlijk. En ik kreeg dus best wel eens vragen wanneer nou het patroon zou komen. Nu dus pas...

 About 4 years ago I presented the shawl "The One" here on my blog. Oh my, I was só proud, still am. So, the past few years I got questions when the pattern release would be... Well, about now.

Weet je nog dat ik vorig jaar op de openings avond van Shetland WoolWeek 2014, Ina Irvine ontmoet heb? Zij had een hele mooie display van al haar gebreide werken en daar zaten dus ook shawls bij met meerdere natuurlijke kleuren. En op hele fijne naaldjes. Mmmmm. Interessant.


Remember I've met Ina Irvine at the Opening Ceremony during Shetland WoolWeek 2014? She had an amazing display of all her knitwear and shawls. Some of the shawls, as I remember, as I did make a picture I included the shawls, had several colours and were made on fine needles. Mmmmm, Interesting.

 Ik was in de zomer van 2014 al begonnen met het breien en opnieuw in kaart brengen van de patronen, maar ná de WoolWeek, heb ik het opzij gelegd en ben ik metéén overnieuw begonnen.
Met meer kleuren en kleinere naalden.
Ik trommelde wat testbreiers (gelukkig weer genoeg aanmeldingen) bij elkaar en daar gingen we!
Ik heb wel een aanpassing gemaakt, omdat ik zelden 2x dezelfde shawl brei. Vandaar de naam "The Second One".

 I had started knitting for this shawl in the summer of 2014. But immediately after WoolWeek, I ditched that and started over. More colours, finer needles. I rounded up some testknitters (plenty of applicants this time too) and we started together. I did make a little adjustment, because I rarely make a shawl twice. Hence the name; "The Second One".

 Het kiezen van de kleuren was niet zo moeilijk. Er zijn genoeg natuurlijke kleuren van Jamieson & Smith. Black, White, Grey, Moorit, Fawn en de nieuwste: Optical White.
Persoonlijk vind ik de Moorit niet zo mooi, te bruin. Dus die heb ik hier niet in verwerkt. Ik wilde een 'soepele' overgang qua kleuren en de volgorde was dus niet zo moeilijk: van donker naar licht.

Choosing the colours wasn't that difficult. There are plenty of natural colours to choose from at Jamieson & Smith. Black, White, Grey, Moorit, Fawn and the latest: Optical White.
Personally I don't like the Moorit. It's too 'brown'. So I didn't use that. I wanted to create a sort  of Ombre effect, so the choice for order was easy. From dark to light.

In het patroon is een perfect punt om met een nieuwe kleur te beginnen, precies op de kruising in de border. Voor het midden is de Natural White gekozen en speciaal voor het Hart Patroon de Optical white. (Wil je niet voor een paar rijen O.W. een hele nieuwe bal garen kopen, dan kun je gewoon de Natural White gebruiken zonder dat je te kort komt). 

In the pattern for the border is an excellent opportunity to change colours. I chose the Natural White for the centre and the Optical White for the rows with the Heart Pattern. (If you don't want to purchase a whole ball of O.W. for just 12 rows, you can use the Natural White without running short).

En dit is hem dan:
And here it is!

Pattern: The Second One
Price: E 8,00 (approx. $9.-)
Design: MoniqueB.
(alternative version by testknitter Tasha: HERE)

Needles: 2mm or 2,5mm

Yarn: Jamieson & Smith Shetland Supreme 1/16NM Gossamer 1ply in Black (1ball), White (2 balls), Grey (2 balls), Fawn (2balls) and Optical White (1ball).
Dit garen is binnenkort ook (weer) te krijgen bij Great British Wool in Nederland.

Size: 110cm x 110cm or  45"x 45" (on 2mm / US1) or 150cm x 150cm 60" x 60" (on 2,5mm or US1,5) (for larger shawl, you might need more yarn, due to knitting tension).

Available on Ravelry, Etsy  and Kantwerk.nl (binnenkort).

Weight: 102 gram.

Dit patroon heeft: 12 pagina's, (niet allemaal printen!), 6 charts (waarvan 4 worden gelezen als 1), ondersteunende plaatjes en uitleg, GEEN uitgeschreven rijen, niet rondgebreid, je maakt de rand eerst, daarna een border, je moet de delen wel in elkaar zetten/graften/kitchener.
Je kunt op de pagina van Tasha lezen hoe zij hem heeft gemaakt, in het rond gebreid en van buiten naar binnen.

This pattern has: 12 pages (don't print them all!), 6 charts  (4 are worked as one), picture support, NO written rows, worked flat, outwards in, edge is worked first, then the border,  it needs grafting.
You can go to Tasha's page for information to work in the round, outwards/in.

Lekker breien!

Enjoy knitting!

Sister "Lotus" Shawls

 Budding Lotus

This shawl is knit up, in one go. This is a good pattern for a beginner knitter yet interesting enough for an experienced knitter. This shawl is charted, not written out. 

 Deze shawl wordt gebreid van onder naar boven in een stuk. Het is voor een beginner goed te doen. Er zijn alleen charts.

Pattern: Budding Lotus (available as pattern download and as a kit) 
Design: MoniqueB 
Yarn: Fine Merino Natural dyed Lace in Green and Blue (250m) each Renaissance Dyeing
Needle: 3mm or US 2,5

Size 160 cms x 48cms or 63 inches x 19 inches

Errata: in the instructions point 6 it states: work row 1-28. It should be: work row 1-30. The chart IS correct. 

I´m proud to say this pattern is also available in French & Dutch! 

Lotus Chained

Dit patroon heeft charts en gedeeltelijk uitgeschreven rijen. 

 This pattern has charts and partially written rows. 

 This shawl is knit sideways in one piece. A one skein wonder!

 Deze shawl wordt in een keer gebreid; je begint bij de rechterpunt en breit naar de linkerpunt. Je hebt genoeg aan 1 streng garen!

Pattern: Lotus Chained (available as pattern download and as a kit) 
Design: MoniqueB 
Yarn:  400m/100gr Blue Faced Leicester Natural  Renaissance Dyeing
Needle: 3mm or US 2,5

Size 160cm wide and 55cm deep in the centre

I´m proud to say this pattern is also available in French & Dutch! 

N.B.
The brown versions of Lotus Chained are knit with DyeForWool "Pumpkin"  Fingering weight BFL (one skein 400m/100gr)
The blue version of Lotus Chained is knit with DyeForYarn "Sloth in Procrastinator's Paradise" 100% silk laceweight.  

Caller Herrin'

Koud. Heel koud. Moet ook, want het is winter. Ik loop 4x in de week met de post en heb héél snel een muts op. Man nam er een mee uit Zweden en een jaar later liep iedereen er mee. Op zich niet erg, maar leuk is anders.

Cold. Very cold. It should be, it's winter. I'm delivering mail 4 times a week and am wearing a hat very quickly into the season. Husband had brought me one from Sweden and a year later everybody had one. No problem, but I like something original.

En ik had wat vrije tijd. De Sixareen Kep had ik in 3 dagen gebreid, maar daar was de hele bovenkant effen. Dat gaat veel sneller. Het patroon wat al een tijdje in mijn queue stond op Ravelry was ook van Kate Davies en had over de hele muts patroon. Ik heb amper voorraad voor dit soort projecten, dus dat werd kiezen.

I had some free time and remembered I had knitted the Sixareen Kep in 3 days. Having said that, that has a top with no pattern and the one I chose to knit has a pattern all over. This was designed by Kate Davies too. The thing is; I hardly have any stash to use for such projects. What to use??

 Op het laatste moment nog geswitched van kleuren. Ik wilde de lichtblauw met de donkerwit. Dat heb ik toen gecombineerd met de echte wit. De rode en gele kleuren en de indigo (lichtblauw) zijn van het zelfde garen (Heritage) als de Kep, de wit komt van de Rams en Yowes deken en de donkerblauw komt uit een goodiebag van Jamieson & Smith; die kregen we bij de Ravelry Meet Up tijdens de Shetland Wool Week...

At the last minute I switched colours. I wanted the lightblue with the darkwhite, but instead I took the real white. The red, yellow and creamwhite are from the Heritage Collection, the white is left over from the Rams and Yowes Blanket and the dark blue is from the goodiebag we recieved at the Ravelry Meet Up evening during Shetland Wool Week.

Zoals je ziet heb ik de muts maar op TWEE naalden staan. Ik brei hem namelijk op de breiriem. Dat is zó handig en ik brei veel sneller. Het werk wordt ook veel gelijkmatiger.

As you can see I have the hat on only TWO needles. I'm using my knittingbelt. Very handy and I'm knitting much faster. And the project is knitted more even.

Dus... was deze muts in 4 dagen af. Zaterdag begonnen en maandag al de punt er op. Die had ik niet zo mooi gemaakt; die heb ik uitgehaald. Dinsdagmorgen heb ik een nieuwe top er aangebreid (niet volgens patroon...).

So.. this hat was knitted in 4 days. Casted on Saturday and Monday the tip was knit. I messed it up; frogged it and reknitted it my way Tuesdaymorning. (not the given pattern).

Dinsdagmiddag moest ik met de post lopen en had ik lekker warm mijn muts op. Hij is nog niet gewassen, het garen is nog niet open gaan staan; ik vermoed dat hij dan nóg beter zit.

Tuesday afternoon I had to deliver the mail and I was wearing my hat. It's not washed yet, the yarn hasn't opened up yet. I suspect it will be even warmer after that and will fit perfectly.

Een héle goede reden om dus meteen nóg maar een muts te breien: Snawheid.

A very good reason to cast on immediately for another: Snawheid.

Pattern: Caller Herrin' or Snawheid
Design: Kate Davies
Yarn: all available at Jamieson & Smith
Needle: 3.0mm or US 2,5