Knitting -- lace summary

I promise I'm done with this unless and until I actually make the Queen Susan Shawl or something like it.

But here are hints for newbies.

1.      Unless you have seriously good muscle control, start with a coarse yarn and large needles. Knit a worsted weight lace square that you can tack onto a square silk pillow cover for a sofa pillow. Re-do it as many times as you have to, so that you get it perfect. 

Then make yourself a scarf in sport weight, a summer blouse in Feather and Fan using DK weight, and a shawl in Fingering weight. You might stop there but at least you will be ready to make a Shetland wedding ring shawl in lace weight yarn and tiny needles without having to constantly fix breaks.

2.      I think it's a good idea to learn to use diagrams. They give you a look at how the design comes out, as well as what stitches to put where. If you transcribe them, some row transcriptions will end up so long that it's easy to lose your place and have to back up to fix a mistake. The page with the symbols is here.

http://www.planetshoup.com/easy/tips/yarnamts.shtml

3,      Always set markers between the horizontal pattern repeats, such as running a piece of waste yarn  between each repeat and looping it back and forth every Xth new row until you're done.

4.      Before you start a new repeat, count and make sure you didn't drop a YO somewhere. You may have to re-knit the previous row, or you might wait until you get to a specific repeat in that row before re-knitting it, or you may be able to adjust with a PSSO or a Make-1. You won't know until you count.

You can also thread a piece of wool called a safety line through the stitches of any given row to anchor them. Then if you make a mistake, you pull out your needle, pick up this row along the safety line, and unravel only that far. Crucial to large shawls especially when the pattern has double YOs.

5.      If you're going to design your own, or pick one from column A and two from column B in a pattern book like Sharon Miller's Heirloom Knitting, do the following.
A.   Based on the stitch count in the motifs, estimate how many stitches you need.
B.   Estimate how many yards of yarn you need. Here's a website to do the math for you.

http://www.planetshoup.com/easy/tips/yarnamts.shtml

I also have a table in my collection of patterns with each weight of yarn, the size needle I generally use with it, and how many rows I can make with one skein in my pullover pattern body. Since that has 200 stitches per row, I just do the multiplication.

C.   MAKE A SWATCH. Knit one copy of the motif in the yarn weight and size needles you plan to use.  Make sure the pattern comes out. Never be afraid to admit that your favorite designer messed up, and make a copy of the pattern with corrections, or you'll wind up with a messed up project.

D.  I recommend that when you make your swatch, you test how your border and edging go around corners. This will tell you how much filler you REALLY need to make things come out right. Add that to your stitch count. If you're going to do short rows around corners, count the stitches there.

E.   Now re-figure how much yarn you need so you can get enough of the same dye lot to finish the project. While my brown horseshoe stole worked out OK and the beige Saltire and green Leaf aren't too scary, the Old Shale in purples and blue is hard on the eyes and the blues of the Ocean Wave simply do not work, I did it just to use up leftovers and practice the pattern.

6.      The more complicated your lace pattern, the less distractions you want. For Old Shale or Feather and Fan, you might be able to hold a conversation with somebody once you have the pattern fixed in your mind. For the Queen Susan shawl and things like that, work in a nice quiet room and don't even play music.

On the other hand, one of the things I found online talked about Shetland women taking their "makkin's" with them. The women of Fair Isle supposedly also do this with their knitting. Personally I have so much trouble making sure to keep my hands clean, what with all my kitchen and yard work, that I would be afraid to do anything but work where I can wash my hands and then sit still to work. YMMV.

I hope this demystifies lace knitting a little for those of you who, like me, can't just look at things and immediately know how to do them. Maybe I've unleashed the designer in somebody, and we'll have an explosion of beautiful new work. I hope so.

© Patricia Jo Heil, 2013-2018 All Rights  Reserved