Is There a Pattern Developing Here?
Ah! There's nothing quite so luxurious or feminine as a lace shawl, a lace wrap, a lacey garment of almost any kind.... so why can't I seem to knit one?
Let me begin by saying I HAVE completed 2 lace shawls; Monika of Smokin' Hot Needles Sakura Shawl in the beautiful but easy wrapped pillar stitch, and my Jacob Sheep wool shawl with awesome yarn from Wild Geese Fiber using the Easy Shawl pattern from Lion Brand, also a very simple stitch pattern repeat.
This seems to be the downside of blogging .... a record of everything you do is laid out in front of you. You can't help, over time, to notice things (even if you stuffed them into the back of the cupboard and tried to forget them!). I have noticed that when lace is involved in a pattern I am looking more and more like the 30-ish yuppie with a string of girlfriends that can't quite settle down....
Let me begin by saying that EVERY ONE of these projects is worked in an absolutely SMASHING yarn. Here is a run-down of my black book entries, a parade of my casual romances.....grouped by situation:
Swallowtail Shawl Hand Dyed Cashmere Mini-Shawl
Situation One
Swallowtail Shawl in ultra-soft cotton-blend. I WILL finish this shawl. No ifs ands or buts. Better question - WHEN? Hand Dyed Cashmere mini-shawl: is actually about 7" long now (pic is about 3") I WILL finish this one too ... but when???
Both of these shawls I still love and I didn't find the patterns difficult, per se, just too demanding, too "needy" for where I was at at the time. I am looking at them again with great longing and making deals with myself as to when I will try again .... after the cabled sweater is finished.... after the wool/soy top... I have them easily visible in their baskets in my office, just to torture myself....
Beaudelaire Lace Socks Creamed Spinach Scarf
Situation Two
Beaudelaire Sock(s) knit in 100% silk. Completely abandoned, in fact I even pulled the needles. Socks made out of 100% silk? Insane! What was I thinking?? Lovely stitch pattern but very bad match for this inelastic yarn! SOCKS is a very bad match for this inelastic yarn! Sheesh!
Spinach Scarf: I used the pattern pic because I ripped it out and rewound the yarn. I don't even remember what yarn I was using. Utter and complete failure. I tried to use stitch markers for the pattern repeats but discovered 5 inches into the scarf that I wasn't a complete moron and mis-counting, but that the stitch pattern 'travels' across the piece so the count is different for each section and row and eventually comes back to par by the end of every repeat. Of course I had been adding and subtracting stitches like mad for the first 3 inches trying to 'make it work'. I thought I was going crazy. As a last ditch I 'just knit' what was written. I still made mistakes but by the time I figured out why, I had had it! I don't have the wherewithall to control 60+ stitches of lace pattern without markers to help me. If I can't use markers - forget it! I make enough mistakes as it is!!!
Cashmere Pi Shawl Water Turtles Shawl
Situation Three
Cashmere Pi Shawl: Awesome pattern from Barb at Wild Geese. For some reason, the longer I knit the more I could see it was the wrong yarn - or maybe I shouldn't have double-stranded it? I don't really know. I put it away several times and tried again, but is was no use. The pattern and the yarn just weren't right for each other... or maybe the problem was adding me into the mix .... hard to say really...... sadly this is one headed for the frog pond
Water Turtles Shawl: This was not another pattern/yarn mis-match. The problem was the lace pattern. I guess I'm a very "results oriented" knitter. If I can't see a pattern developing after a few rows, the project is in trouble! I actually worked this thing to about 8" before I realized it was looking like the deranged product of a generous combination of arachnids and Jack Daniels. All I know is that what was hanging from my needles didn't even vaguely resemble the picture in the book no matter how much I stretched and examined. In fact there seemed to be no regular pattern to the holes and loops at all. I think this is where we re-visit the Spinach Scarf situation; I don't have the wherewithall to blindly control 260+ stitches of lace pattern without markers to help me!!!!! Ribbit! Ribbit!
Okay, Okay - I admit it!!! I am desperately in love with this black alpaca/silk yarn and even though it could have made a fabulous gift shawl (even though my attempt was a mutilated disaster) I still want to make it into a sweater for my selfish self. Sorry if I don't sound sorry I reclaimed the yarn!
Cotton Chenille Capelette
Situation Four
Cotton Chenille Capelette: This is not a lace pattern, just a knitting problem but I thought I would take this opportunity to rant about it, too. This much-desired project is about 6" wide already, knit from the bottom up. It started out as a reasonable, tame adventure in slip-stitch color work - except that some dufus selected COTTON CHENILLE as the yarn. The problem is that chenille of any kind makes a plush, velvety fabric but you actually have to knit with it. Cotton is inelastic. Chenille is fairly inelastic. Silk pales in comparison to the inelasticity of COTTON chenille. Are we getting the picture here? Every time I pick it up I knit in fear of shredding the plush from the core thread. Add on the color work and we have the pleasure-knitting equivalent of anesthetic-free dental work!
The burning question is whether or not I will try to finish this project. This is a 50/50 proposition. The fact that it's still on the needles indicates all hope is not lost. I still want a plush squooshy chenille capelette for my shoulders. But do I want it badly enough to actually sit and knit with this yarn, even if I just simplify it to stripes? This is the conundrum. What irks me most is I can't get my local talented crocheter to bail me out because a) she hates chenille and b) crochet would double and triple the thickness, way too thick for this project - sigh! No easy way out! The jury is still deliberating.....
I want to end this post on a note of hope. So I present this - really bad - pic of my current foray into lace, The Aran Weight Victorian Lace Poncho. It's free to download from Elann, just search their free patterns. I've already done a bunch of things on it not-by-the-book like knitting it in a sport weight cotton blend called Calypso but it's a totally eclectic pattern - maybe that's why it's working for me ... hmmmm. Every time you join a new ball of yarn you go up one needle size so gauge is sort of arbitrary. Every second round is knit - woohoo!
The pic is from last Sunday afternoon. It's over 8" now (for me, that's a long-term commitment for lace) and I just know I'll be able to finish it. I only work on it when I'm by myself (more or less). NO dvd watching, NO tv watching, NO music even! I have a zillion stitch markers on my circ cable. The English Mesh Lace 'pattern' section is done perfectly correctly (and still shows no discernable pattern) BUT I've started the Horseshoe Lace pattern and it's going GREAT! After 4 rounds the pattern is there! It's actually the part of the pattern that inspired me to try - yet again - to conquer the foothills of lace mountain.
I would have to say my tentative success with this project is what gave me the courage to look back on all those failures and stalled attempts. I'm no Smokin' Hot Needles, that's for sure - her breathtakingly gorgeous shawls seem to float effortlessly from her magic needles like she has fairy blood in her veins (and I'm saying it because I know she'll read it! tee hee!) however..... we all have to start somewhere and I'm relieved to be able to say that at long last, I think my friendship with knitting lace is launched! and who knows where that may eventually lead?
Let me begin by saying I HAVE completed 2 lace shawls; Monika of Smokin' Hot Needles Sakura Shawl in the beautiful but easy wrapped pillar stitch, and my Jacob Sheep wool shawl with awesome yarn from Wild Geese Fiber using the Easy Shawl pattern from Lion Brand, also a very simple stitch pattern repeat.
This seems to be the downside of blogging .... a record of everything you do is laid out in front of you. You can't help, over time, to notice things (even if you stuffed them into the back of the cupboard and tried to forget them!). I have noticed that when lace is involved in a pattern I am looking more and more like the 30-ish yuppie with a string of girlfriends that can't quite settle down....
Let me begin by saying that EVERY ONE of these projects is worked in an absolutely SMASHING yarn. Here is a run-down of my black book entries, a parade of my casual romances.....grouped by situation:
Swallowtail Shawl Hand Dyed Cashmere Mini-Shawl
Situation One
Swallowtail Shawl in ultra-soft cotton-blend. I WILL finish this shawl. No ifs ands or buts. Better question - WHEN? Hand Dyed Cashmere mini-shawl: is actually about 7" long now (pic is about 3") I WILL finish this one too ... but when???
Both of these shawls I still love and I didn't find the patterns difficult, per se, just too demanding, too "needy" for where I was at at the time. I am looking at them again with great longing and making deals with myself as to when I will try again .... after the cabled sweater is finished.... after the wool/soy top... I have them easily visible in their baskets in my office, just to torture myself....
Beaudelaire Lace Socks Creamed Spinach Scarf
Situation Two
Beaudelaire Sock(s) knit in 100% silk. Completely abandoned, in fact I even pulled the needles. Socks made out of 100% silk? Insane! What was I thinking?? Lovely stitch pattern but very bad match for this inelastic yarn! SOCKS is a very bad match for this inelastic yarn! Sheesh!
Spinach Scarf: I used the pattern pic because I ripped it out and rewound the yarn. I don't even remember what yarn I was using. Utter and complete failure. I tried to use stitch markers for the pattern repeats but discovered 5 inches into the scarf that I wasn't a complete moron and mis-counting, but that the stitch pattern 'travels' across the piece so the count is different for each section and row and eventually comes back to par by the end of every repeat. Of course I had been adding and subtracting stitches like mad for the first 3 inches trying to 'make it work'. I thought I was going crazy. As a last ditch I 'just knit' what was written. I still made mistakes but by the time I figured out why, I had had it! I don't have the wherewithall to control 60+ stitches of lace pattern without markers to help me. If I can't use markers - forget it! I make enough mistakes as it is!!!
Cashmere Pi Shawl Water Turtles Shawl
Situation Three
Cashmere Pi Shawl: Awesome pattern from Barb at Wild Geese. For some reason, the longer I knit the more I could see it was the wrong yarn - or maybe I shouldn't have double-stranded it? I don't really know. I put it away several times and tried again, but is was no use. The pattern and the yarn just weren't right for each other... or maybe the problem was adding me into the mix .... hard to say really...... sadly this is one headed for the frog pond
Water Turtles Shawl: This was not another pattern/yarn mis-match. The problem was the lace pattern. I guess I'm a very "results oriented" knitter. If I can't see a pattern developing after a few rows, the project is in trouble! I actually worked this thing to about 8" before I realized it was looking like the deranged product of a generous combination of arachnids and Jack Daniels. All I know is that what was hanging from my needles didn't even vaguely resemble the picture in the book no matter how much I stretched and examined. In fact there seemed to be no regular pattern to the holes and loops at all. I think this is where we re-visit the Spinach Scarf situation; I don't have the wherewithall to blindly control 260+ stitches of lace pattern without markers to help me!!!!! Ribbit! Ribbit!
Okay, Okay - I admit it!!! I am desperately in love with this black alpaca/silk yarn and even though it could have made a fabulous gift shawl (even though my attempt was a mutilated disaster) I still want to make it into a sweater for my selfish self. Sorry if I don't sound sorry I reclaimed the yarn!
Cotton Chenille Capelette
Situation Four
Cotton Chenille Capelette: This is not a lace pattern, just a knitting problem but I thought I would take this opportunity to rant about it, too. This much-desired project is about 6" wide already, knit from the bottom up. It started out as a reasonable, tame adventure in slip-stitch color work - except that some dufus selected COTTON CHENILLE as the yarn. The problem is that chenille of any kind makes a plush, velvety fabric but you actually have to knit with it. Cotton is inelastic. Chenille is fairly inelastic. Silk pales in comparison to the inelasticity of COTTON chenille. Are we getting the picture here? Every time I pick it up I knit in fear of shredding the plush from the core thread. Add on the color work and we have the pleasure-knitting equivalent of anesthetic-free dental work!
The burning question is whether or not I will try to finish this project. This is a 50/50 proposition. The fact that it's still on the needles indicates all hope is not lost. I still want a plush squooshy chenille capelette for my shoulders. But do I want it badly enough to actually sit and knit with this yarn, even if I just simplify it to stripes? This is the conundrum. What irks me most is I can't get my local talented crocheter to bail me out because a) she hates chenille and b) crochet would double and triple the thickness, way too thick for this project - sigh! No easy way out! The jury is still deliberating.....
I want to end this post on a note of hope. So I present this - really bad - pic of my current foray into lace, The Aran Weight Victorian Lace Poncho. It's free to download from Elann, just search their free patterns. I've already done a bunch of things on it not-by-the-book like knitting it in a sport weight cotton blend called Calypso but it's a totally eclectic pattern - maybe that's why it's working for me ... hmmmm. Every time you join a new ball of yarn you go up one needle size so gauge is sort of arbitrary. Every second round is knit - woohoo!
The pic is from last Sunday afternoon. It's over 8" now (for me, that's a long-term commitment for lace) and I just know I'll be able to finish it. I only work on it when I'm by myself (more or less). NO dvd watching, NO tv watching, NO music even! I have a zillion stitch markers on my circ cable. The English Mesh Lace 'pattern' section is done perfectly correctly (and still shows no discernable pattern) BUT I've started the Horseshoe Lace pattern and it's going GREAT! After 4 rounds the pattern is there! It's actually the part of the pattern that inspired me to try - yet again - to conquer the foothills of lace mountain.
I would have to say my tentative success with this project is what gave me the courage to look back on all those failures and stalled attempts. I'm no Smokin' Hot Needles, that's for sure - her breathtakingly gorgeous shawls seem to float effortlessly from her magic needles like she has fairy blood in her veins (and I'm saying it because I know she'll read it! tee hee!) however..... we all have to start somewhere and I'm relieved to be able to say that at long last, I think my friendship with knitting lace is launched! and who knows where that may eventually lead?
My heart goes out to you, and your blog truly rang a bell. I bought a magazine yesterday for a lacey wrap, and I've ordered the black wool for it-then spent the night thinking how I'll see the pattern. Have to build up the courage to start
Reply to this
Sometimes being honest with yourself about a knitting problem is the hardest part. I'm just sharing my journey - good or bad. I'm glad you are enjoying visiting! Thanks for taking the time to say 'Hi!'. Hope your lace project goes smoothly!
Reply to this
There's no fairy blood, no magic, as I can attest with my latest shawl knitting. :o) It's going very slow now. Over 500 stitches each round, and still 33 increasing rounds to go.
Maybe you should start with easier lace, smaller projects to built your confidence? The way you feel about lace knitting, I feel about garment knitting. I've frogged way more, than finished. It it's not for my daughter, and I can follow a pattern precisely, I can't do it. But I would love to have a vest, and a cardigan for myself. I hope you'll get the hang of it, and will finish another lace project! All the best!
Reply to this
Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it!! LOL!! Your lace shawls are spectacular - If I knit 'til I'm 100 I'd consider myself fortunate to knit even ONE as nice as yours!!
As for smaller projects - the mini-shawl WAS a small project! (still IS, actually, only about 7" tee hee!) I think this poncho is a real turning point for me, though. I seem to have got the hang of the main lace pattern and I'm SO pleased with it - plus I'm finding it fairly easy to knit - go figure!
I know how you feel about garment knitting - I've frogged lots too. I think that's partly why I knit in the round - NO seams and no mis-shapen pieces.... if I can just keep the size under control LOL!! Always something, isn't there?
Reply to this