Bride-to-be seeks perfect drape neck...

[jadlyn]

 I'm designing and knitting my own wedding dress and have my heart set on a plunging drape neck...any ideas of books or sites that have an example I could go off of?  I can wing it, but the wedding's in May and I'd like to get started on it.  Also, I'm looking for a lace weight silk blend yarn (naturally cream) and haven't ventured past my own LYS

Comments

[jcipa]

I can't help you with the draped neck, but I can recommend Jaggerspun Zephyr. It's 50/50 merino and tussah silk, has a lovely hand, comes in a billion colors (you might go with "vanilla"), and can be had for a reasonable price-- especially if you buy it by the cone, which you would for a project that large.

[zinniz]

For lace weight yarn, you might want to look into weaving supply shops if you have any nearby. Otherwise, there are several online that have 100% silk in natural cream. Henry's Attic yarns have several weights of silk and are sold by a lot of retailers like the Yarn Barn.

If you're thinking silk/wool blend, Jaggerspun Zephyr is beautiful and you can get the best prices for that from Sarah's Yarns.

One great advantage of weaving yarns is that they come on cones so you have fewer joins to do!

Best wishes!

[kightp]

I can also recommend Halcyon Yarn in Bath, Maine. They have a good selection of dyed and undyed silk and silk-blend yarns in various weights, at excellent prices, and their customer service is terrific. If you have questions about the yarns they sell, you can call them for help.

[llrtpenny]

Are you on Ravelry (www.ravelry.com)? Best place to search for patterns. You'll probably find a neckline that you like on a sweater and then have to adjust for your gauge. It appears that the Summer 2003 Interweave Knits might also have some info on knitted wedding dresses. I seem to recall a more recent Piecework that had one and Vogue Knitting had a lacy white dress in a recent issue too.

Colourmart is a good source for laceweight. I can also highly recommend Webs (www.yarn.com) and Halcyon Yarns (www.halcyonyarn.com). You can search both those sites by weight and fiber. I'd also recommend that you go with a coned yarn. You'll find that a project of this scope eats up yarn and the fewer ends you have to weave in the better.

[djinnj]

Also, you could get some jersey cloth and mock it up in different cuts until you find one that gives you the right amount of fabric and the right depth. It won't perfectly mimic the drape depending on what you end up knitting it out of, but it's a handy intermediary step.

[woolygrrl]

Another vote for Jaggerspun Zephyr. You can order cones to ensure dyelot matching AND you'll reduce the number of ends to be dealt with.

If you need help designing the neckline I recommend Maggie Righetti's book "Sweater Design in Plain English". She applies her experience as a couture seamstress to sweater construction and shows you how to accomplish all sorts of necklines.