Lacework Knitting - What's On My Needles?

I love lacework. I wish I had more time just to do more of it. If you've never done any lacework then maybe that will be one of your goals for this year. When you work on a lace project, like a shawl, it looks like a big glob of mess. If you happen to show your work and then the picture as to what it should look like to someone that is not a knitter and they don't know anything about lacework, they would look at it and say to themselves there is no way that mess will look like the picture.

These are the two lace patterns I am working on. One is from a pattern that I don't remember who gave it to me. I like it because it is a simple design that only requires a four row repeat. So the worries are practically none. The other shawl is called Maia from the book Small Shawls by Rosemary Hill.

You can see in the picture that I have a white string hanging from the shawls. This is actually floss. I use it for my lifeline. What is a lifeline you might ask? Because there are usually a lot of yarn overs, increasing and decreasing, making a mistake can cause you a lot of time trying to pick those stitches back up again. Using a lifeline can save you time and headaches.

How does it work? You thread the lifeline through the row of stitches with a tapestry needle and use either a yarn that is thinner than what you are knitting with or in my case I use floss (not peppermint flavor). It works so well when I need to rip down. The floss holds the stitches and I can just pick them up. I love it.




Then the day comes when your masterpiece glob is finished. Now the end of the process arrives when you take your project and choose the blocking method, stretch those lovely pieces of yarn-overs, increases and decreases and make the shawl come alive. It is such a beautiful thing. I can't wait to show you the finished product after I block them.

So you haven't tried lacework yet? We are in a New Year of 2011, which means, you know what I'm going to say to you - new goals of new learning. This way you can find out for yourself what all the rave is about lacework knitting.

I did get to finished a few of my UFO's from last year. I still have several to finish but I am in no rush because I just want to have - what's the word - FUN.

"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Enjoy your projects and be safe.