Georgina: The Inspiration
Last Fall, while my dear friend Sascha was planning her wedding, I offered to make her something as a gift. As I mentioned in an older post, she requested that I knit a fancy little bolero to go with her wedding dress. I got to work, and designed the Georgina Cardigan (pattern sold here). Sascha requested a few modifications to the original design, such as a shorter length, an open front with a daintier collar, and tighter fitting sleeves.
Getting this project together was so much fun! Before one of Sascha's dress fittings, I stopped into La Casita Yarn Shop and bought one skein of any kind of yarn that I thought might work. Sascha picked her favorite, and I exchanged all the rejects for this DELICIOUS PILE OF AWESOME!
Louisa Harding Willow Tweed is as beautiful knitted up as it is in the skein. It's a much finer yarn than the Berroco Ultra Alpaca that I originally designed Georgina with. I thought this choice would compliment the antique lace in Sascha's wedding dress nicely.
This is such a fun pattern to knit, I could hardly put it down! I even worked on it while on vacation. It flew off my needles, taking just a few weeks to complete. I was so nervous when Sascha tried it on for the first time!
It all worked out though. Doesn't Sascha looks so pretty?!
This is moments before the wedding. I have no idea what I'm doing there. Pre-wedding massage, perhaps?
Awww....
Double Awww.... (awww...)
It was such an honor to create something for Sascha, someone who is so special to me, to wear on her wedding day.
Did you wear something handmade on your big day? Did you make it yourself? Was it a gift, or borrowed? I thought it would be a good idea to make my own wedding dress. I was obviously out of my mind!
Comments
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Beth
about 12 years agoI was out of my mind as well, I made my own wedding dress too! so much stress. It's such pressure to design the ultimate gown of your life. Love love love the Georgina cardigan!
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Mikhaela Reid
about 12 years agoIt's gorgeous! So it won't affect the fit/wearability if I make it in a DK-weight alpaca/wool blend instead of the worsted but stick to the same gauge as the original-it'll just be lacier? I actually went to La Casita today looking for my Georgina yarn before I even got your tweet, but I got a bit indecisive about color/fiber choices and decided to think about it and then go back. I always get nervous with yarn substitutions--I know designers pick yarns to do certain things (highlight cables and lace or drape or have good elasticity/recovery), and I want to make sure whatever yarn I choose retains the qualities that drew me to a design in the first place. Anyway, thanks so much for any help--your designs are just lovely and hopefully I've inspired some of my readers to knit Georgina too... I also have a friend who might want to do a knit-a-long with me.
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Alexis Winslow
about 12 years agoThanks so much! I hope your taste in shrunken cardigans catches on too. side note: For those of you that don't know, Mikhaela's blog, polkadotoverload.com, is absolutely adorable and you should check it out immediately! I think a DK weight alpaca/wool blend would be lovely. The original design for Georgina was made with a 50/50 wool alpaca blend too. This Willow Tweed is 40/40/20 alpaca wool & silk, and blocked out beautifully. It did end up being a bit on the stiff side, but I think that worked really well with Sascha's dress. Since this is a close-fitting garment, you don't need to worry about drape as much. I would try not to get a yarn that's too fuzzy, because you'll end up loosing some of the details like the eyelets and cables in the edging. It's good that you're sticking to wool or a wool blend, because what ever yarn you choose, the most important thing is that it responds positively to a little bit of aggressive blocking. Sometimes a yarn can just loose all it's life on the blocking board, and who wants to morn a sweater, seriously! Those ladies at La Casita really know their stuff. If you've any doubt, I'm sure they'll give you some great advice. I can't wait to see what color you end up with!
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Sascha
about 12 years agoLove love love you! It was and is absolutely perfect!