The Wedding Sweater

 

I am so excited to share a bit more about the top I knit for my wedding last month at the Museum of Science in Boston. I knew for a long time I wanted to make part of my wedding dress, but was anxious about (1) knitting an entire wedding dress and (2) wearing something knitted when it could possibly be very warm out. I settled on knitting the top part of my dress and purchasing the skirt (very much inspired by Katt Weaver's wedding ensemble). 

Pattern

I searched a bunch on Ravelry and on instagram for potential patterns and for others who had knit part or all of their wedding dresses. (Notably, this project by @shmelinor and the heavy documentation of her own knitted wedding dress by Rae @marriedinasweater were huge influences). I finally settled on Scéal Grá by Ailbíona McLochlainn. I knew I wanted a circular yoke and a floral lace motif. It also seemed like the perfect base to do a few modifications.

The original pattern has either cap or three-quarter length sleeves. I had longed envisioned my wedding gown having some kind of sleeve, but I wasn't sure exactly. I originally finished the sweater with cap sleeves (see the photo above), but after trying it on with the skirt I ended up buying, I realized I wanted something a little more flow-y up top. I improvised some slight-bell sleeves using the lace motifs from the Echo Flower Shawl, which is also Estonian lace. Knitting the nupps was probably the least fun I had while knitting this sweater, but I'm very happy I did it. 

I also modified the body of the sweater a bit: I added waist shaping at the sides and incorporated the Crystal Chandelier lace repeat from LionBrand along the bottom. Finally, and it's hard to see in the photos, I (one-by-one 😬) added small clear beads around the lace. The impact in the photos was minimal, but I did feel I had a few sparkly moments when the sun hit them just right. 

Yarn

I started knitting with Knit Picks Lindy Chain in "swan", but found it was a little to cream colored vs stark white. I re-cast on with Sandnes Garn Mandarin Petit in "white" and found it was more the white-white I was going for. 

Knitting 

Firstly, the pattern was extremely easy to follow, which also made it easy to modify. On a more personal level, there was something very special for me about making part of my wedding dress. I had tried on a few dresses in stores, but knitting has always been such a big part of my life -- and is part of the reason Aaron loves me -- that knitting part of it felt like the perfect way to be true to myself. 

Many thanks to Andrea at Brass Tacks Photography for our lovely wedding photos <3