Pineapple Lace Blouse

OK, I am crochetting another pineapple pattern! :) This time it's a lace blouse, which comes from a Japanese pattern book 美しいかぎ針編 春夏NO.14. I am using a #2 crochet hook and sky blue yarn bought from online yarn shop of 哞哞毛房. The yarn is pretty thin and creats a shiny outlook that matches perfectly with the pattern! I am very happy to see how it turns out with the pattern, but still am not sure how the blouse would look finally...

The instruction is to connect two pieces of round pineapples to create a blouse model. I am hoping that I could finish the first piece of round pineapple and start the second one in the weekend so that I could be able to finish up the blouse by next weekend...but this is what I hope for, anyway, I'll work hard to follow my schedule! :)

close up~ beautiful pattern!

This is one of the two round pieces. Two were both done on July 11. :P And tonight I'll start the more difficult part---to fold the piece and shape into the front and back side, and also the sleeve.

So here's what I've done so far...one side sleeve is halfway done and after that, I'll have to crochet and make the round angle of the back piece straight, then do the same thing to the other round piece...hugh...hope this could all be done by the weekend!

Pineapple Lace Top

The original pattern was designed for a toddler using a clover JP#2 crochet hook. My friend Kim has shown me some FOs crochetted by bloggers, some made it a kid wear, yet some made it an adult one using larger size crochet hook. All these garments have very elegant style that I hardly could resist, especially in such a humid summer time, what could be more suitable than a crocht wear? :)

Therefore, Kim and I decided to make it as our small knit along.

Yarn:pink purple cotton yarn bought from a yarn stand in Taipei. The stand owner is called Mrs. Tseng, she's famous among knit bloggers. It was my first time to buy yarns from her, and the experience was quite pleasant. Mrs. Tseng told me she's been selling yarns for more than 30 years, seems like she's also an experienced knitter cos she would tell me which type of yarn goes to which specific pattern...

Tools: Clover JP#3 crochet hook

Pattern:Sheep House

The finished Pineapple Lace Top. It's better to wear a camisole inside, the drapping has made the garment a lovely taste!

How the beautiful pineapple pattern glittering through the sunshine.

Three buttons used on front top, it looks good as well without buttons up.

Buttons up. It's better to wear jeans instead, isn't it! :)

The frustrating French knitting

Ok, I know I am making my own trouble. I can not read any French at all, and I chose this project to knit, it's written in French!!! It's not that I am crazy or something, it's just because the garment is just so attempting to me that I MUST knit it! Isn't the tank top shown on the above photo fabulous? I could even smell the summer by seeing the photo only!

The local distributor here says they import the French versions only and it should be no problem for knitters to figure out the pattern. I've been online searching for a version with English translation, but the only way I could have is to get it from the states. See how much I'll have to pay for the postage along with the English version?! It's not cost effective at all and thus I would rather to having my soul crashing instead. Some experienced local knitters here have told me that they could knit the pattern without any difficulty by seeing the PHOTO only. Isn't that amazing?! Thus, I have gained more confidence that MAYBE I could do this as well.

The first thing is to find a translation on the french knitting abbreviations. A really big thank-you to CHEZPLUM for posting a valuable article talking about knitting the French way and the English way, in terms of knitting cultures and abbreviations. By having the conversion list of the abbreviations from French to English and vise versa, I have more clues on figuring out the pattern.

My buddy Kim has learnt French for years, though she said she almost forgot everyting on French, but indeed she helped me alot. And here's the results.



This is the pattern on the garment and I finally made it! I really want to screm out loudly when I saw the pattern coming out through my busy hands!

To figure out the pattern is just a beginning. Kim and I "studied" the pattern for days, and we figured out the knitting sequences clearly. I'll have to increase 10 stitches on both sides of the pattern, and have to increase by following the pattern...it's not easy though...

I am still looking for yarns for this garment and it's not easy since most summer yarn here are either fingering or DK, which will not match with the required gauge...but I'll try my best to finish this!