Learning to Love Lace

I have had a love affair with lace knitting for many years, and one of my hopes in going to work part-time for Fibers, my local Grass Valley yarn shop a year ago was that I would be able to get the chance to transmit that love to others.  I have had customers admire and ask about the lace pieces I wear to work (usually small shoulder shawls).  I have managed to convert my co-Yarnista Gail to an addicted lace knitter who is right now working on the Hanami stole; if you haven't seen this pattern, go and look at it right now.... it is dedicated to the Japanese word for cherry blossom bloom viewing activities and I especially love that it is asymmetrical!  However, until this week, our shop owner, Allison, and I had not managed to get a beginning lace class scheduled.... we sat down over coffee on Wednesday afternoon, and mapped out three course sessions, starting on June 11th.  Each class will be on a Wednesday evening for two and a half hours, and there will be a two week gap in between each of the three class meetings to give knitters a chance to see some progress in their work before meeting again.

I had thought a lot about what project to select for a knitter's first lace piece.  I also wanted to make sure that what I selected matched with what our shop could secure for the knitters.  I wanted to start lace knitters with fingering weight yarn, as I have noticed that most beginning to intermediate knitters mainly work with worsted or bulky weight yarns, so dropping in needle and yarn size to even sock yarns has been intimidating for many of them, though our sock-knitting instructor, Luci, has been able to convince a lot of people to love making socks (which also means we have a good selection of fingering yarns on hand, with Colinette Jitterbug being my current favorite).

When I posted photos of my Victorian Shoulderette last month, and got a comment from Sivia Harding (still flushing with pride over that!), I began corresponding back and forth and our shop ended up ordering a few of her designs from her distributor and she generously forwarded a wonderful teaching summary to me as well... so, my spring Sunday afternoon was spent starting my teaching model for the Gothic Leaf Lace scarf, based on her stole pattern, which will be my students' first lace project!

I had some Mega Boots yarn in my stash that seemed like a good possibility, and sat in the sun on my porch at the high country house working my way through the first two pattern repeats.... and came to two important conclusions.  The first was that this pattern would require a bit of concentration at first but that the novice lace knitter would soon be caught up in the excitement of the 20-row repeat.  The second was that the yarn had a lovely and subtle color shift that I really like!

While I was knitting, I was thinking of the tips I use to help myself keep track of my chart, 'read' my lace as I go along to detect any mistakes, whether I decide to use markers or a lifeline or not (I won't on this pattern, since it is only two repeats across, but will periodically county my stitches to make sure I am keeping on track), and how I decide if I have selected the right needle size for the yarn... in this example I am using a size four Takumi bamboo needle, which works well for me to make a scarf that will still be lightly blocked, but if I were using laceweight and making the larger stole version, I would probably use a size three and block more vigorously in order to get a more ethereal version.  I have a few of my own lace projects waiting in the wings, but since I want to teach, will be spending some time in the next month with Gothic Leaf.  I hope to have enough time to swatch a few repeats in heavier yarn, so that my students can examine the stitch definition, as well as start a version in laceweight, to show that there really isn't all that much difference (except knitting time).

I would love to hear any lace knitting tips you have picked up so that I can share them and inspire new lace knitters to share our addiction passion with us.

We are hosting our second yarn tasting the last Sunday of this month, and having fun thinking about future possibilities for this event.  I am also making terrific progress on my Summer Cardi, with only a few inches of the body to go, and then I can start on my sleeves, which will definitely be three quarter length.

I forgot to mention above, that while this past weekend was gloriously warm and sunny, there was also still a LOT of snow around our cabin, drifts as high as three feet in the shade interspersed with open spots and daffodils.  It truly will be spring here in the Sierras, though the rainfall is only 50% of normal for this time of year.  I am praying for snow... rain would be good too.

Comments

[margene]

We have enjoyed the sun this weekend. It's been heavenly. My best lace tip is to learn to read the lace. It's hard to do and takes time, but once you see how the pattern is formed you're home free. Oh, and use a sharp needle. ;-)

[Anne Podlesak]

What a great first project! Your students will surely enjoy working on that design.

Spring sprang here this weekend, but today is supposed to be 80 and by tomorrow only in the 50s with possible snow squalls overnight. Eek!

[Sarah HB]

Use thicker yarn for the first lace pattern so you can learn to read your knitting.

[Knitnana]

I am a strong (as you know) advocate of the lifeline - having spent way too many hours ripping out and redo-ing without them.

And I'd strongly second Margene's pointy needles tip! Addi Lace and KP Harmony's for me!
(((hugs)))

[KarenJoSeattle]

Learn how to drop down to fix a mistake and when not to.

Don't knit lace with mohair until you're really good or really don't care about unfixable mistakes.

[Ruinwen]

That is a wonderful project with serene beautiful significance. :) Lace for me is a one-on-one project. It forces me to focus and really give myself to the process.