From my first lace project waaaaay way back in the day. Which was "Branching Out" published in Knitty from 2005. I had only been knitting a short time back then, Ravelry wasn't even a thing yet. It was a nice safe way to start knitting lace. Much like the first time I shifted from first to second gear, I was hooked. I really like lace knitting. In particular I really like Estonian Lace. Estonian lace has lovely repeats, easy to memorize patterns and they have a logic to them that makes the knitting easy to read. More than just lace knitting, I live knitting lace in fingering weight yarn rather than lace weight yarn. I prefer the better stitch definition and the warm wear. As anyone who knows me, knows I love shawls as scarves. Maybe its my inner hipster, maybe I don't like to be cold.
Just a few "Claire is knit shawls" pictures. BTW they are Summerfly, TurnTable, Raindrops, Shallow tail and Glitz at the Ritz. Luckily the rest of the knitting word is starting to see how awesome it is to wear shawls as scarves.
In 2012 I cast on for Juneberry, the epic worsted Lace triangle from that "hurt so good" designer we all love but never wear Jared Flood. Don't get me wrong the man takes amazing pictures, knows how to sell a brand and does create gorgeous patterns. He also doesn't have hips or boobs nor has the slightest clue how to design a flattering pattern for anyone one who has either. So I stick to his slightly overly complicated shawl and scarf patterns. Shockingly Juneberry doesn't have a provisional cast on but its makes up for that with lace knitting on both the knit and purl sides. If you make this pattern remember, the 3 knit boarder stitches are knot listed anywhere but in the notes and put a stitch marker between each pattern repeat. DO IT! It took me years to knit this thing because I'd put it away and put it away and put it away. Finally I just did it, and knocked the damn thing out this year. Its also so squishy I might die. Now that its extremely cold I've found I really like the extra added warmth of worst weight knitting. There are some great knits out there to show off your lace skills and use a warmer yarn. Juneberry of course. There is Conifer, by Kate Gagnon Osborn, she has more than one worsted weight shawl but Conifer is the best of her lace. The Lonely Tree Shawl and From Afar from two of the coolest kids on Ravelry. The Skye Boat Shawl which looks so squishy. There's also Hojas and Farid from Sneezerville.
There aren't a lot of lace-worsted patterns available which is a little disappointing. But when you want to a change up from those oh so cozy but not so exciting garter stitch shawls which are popping up everywhere, take a peak at these patterns.
No comments:
Post a Comment