I don’t know that there is another lace pattern that I know so well, so the final section and the border are going to be a challenge. Hopefully, by the time I get there, I’ll be up for it.
Wish me luck!
How to Choose a Lace Pattern?
One of my biggest faults is that I worry so much sometimes about doing something wrong that I over-study, and over-study the problem, and then that leads to progress paralysis. You’re familiar with project paralysis, right? It plagues every knitter, every writer, every doer of anything creative from time to time. Well, I seem to have an extreme case. I have consulted all of these books for inspiration over the last week:
- Victorian Lace Today
- A Treasury of Knitting Patterns
- A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns
- First Book of Modern Lace Knitting
- Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting
- Successful Lace Knitting: Celebrating the Work of Dorothy Reade
- Crazy Lace:an artistic approach to Creative Lace Knitting
- Folk Shawls
- Knitted Lace of Estonia: Techniques, Patterns, and Traditions
- Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Five: Lace Knitting
- Knitting Lace
That’s an entire library on knitting lace and a practical encyclopedic collection of lace stitches. And you know what? I’m confused! I’ve gone overboard, again.
I’ve narrowed the field to a few criteria, but I have to go through the stitches again to find things that I think will work. Here are my thoughts:
- It has to somehow fit into the area that I want to knit it into, not exactly, because I can use filler stitches and rows, but close enough.
- It should be different from, but not clash with, the stitches that are already there, and the ones that follow (as if I know what that means yet)
- The stitches have to be just complicated enough that they will keep my interest, but not so complicated that they make my brain hurt or that I can’t learn them, or read them from my knitting, after doing a couple of repeats
- I’d like my stitch choices to be something that adapt easily to garter stitch
- And they have to be beautiful, without looking too much like “old lady” lace, whatever that means. I have purple hair, for goodness sake, and I’m going through a bit of a midlife crisis. Not that old fashioned lace can’t be simply stunning, I’m just not sure it’s me.
So, have I driven you mad with my craziness? Does anybody out there have any thoughts on this? HOW the heck do I sort this all out? I feel like I’m only taking my first, tentative baby steps with lace knitting, and yet, I’m seeking a master’s degree straightaway. I am nuts, and I know it. For now, I’ll keep knitting, since I still have another 14 or so rows before I must commit. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Help?!?
As always, I thank you in advance.
Knitting a Shawl
For some reason, I got it in my head a couple of weeks ago that I want to make a shawl. I’ve been wearing wide scarves over my shoulders all winter. They all have been store-bought, and I have had a bit of knitter’s shame in that none of what I have worn has been anything I’ve made. You wanna know why that is? There IS nothing I have made. A few hats, an i-cord scarf, and lots of unfinished objects. I am the true embodiment of a process knitter; I start a project, eager to learn something new, and then once I get the concept, I quickly get bored. So, there’s not a lot to show for my “career” as a knitter.
But, back in November, when I visited Woolstock, I discovered the wonder that is Koigu. I bought 8 skeins, intent on making a shawl. Of course, it can’t be just ANY shawl. It had to be the PERFECT shawl. And so, the agonizing began.
Agonizing, because… here’s the thing. I love the idea of lace, but I really don’t like “old lady” lace. I’m 45 with purple hair for gosh sakes, I’m fighting my age tooth and nail. So, I had to find the right stitch patterns, and style and shape of shawl.
Enter the book, Crazy Lace:an artistic approach to Creative Lace Knitting
The thing is, I’m not quite that brave. Not yet. I want to be, but I’m not there. Still, the book was a great read and I will refer to it often every time I need a knitting confidence booster.
Then I thought I would love to try knitting a Faroese Shawl. The concept of this shawl appealed to me because as a person in a wheelchair, I have trouble keeping shawls in place on my shoulders. And the shaping looked like just the thing that would make this shawl easy to wear. I looked at some basic shaping instructions from this site. I understand the concepts laid out in this site, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Not yet. It was making my brain hurt, so I ripped it out after only the first few rows. I tried again and again, but the confusion never lifted. So there went that idea.
Then I looked around Ravelry, and there it was: The Pi Are Square shawl. (There’s a good example of one in this photo on Flickr.) Put simply, it’s round in the back, and square in the front. with shoulder shaping. This seemed perfect. Of course the creator of this beautiful design was none other than my knitting herone, Elizabeth Zimmermann. I have most of her books so I pulled my copy of Knitting Around
If I’m brave enough. We’ll see.
Wrapped in Comfort
This week I received my copy of Wrapped in Comfort: Knitted Lace Shawls by Alison Hyde. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to “know” Alison over the last several years, thanks to the Internet, and the various mailing lists we’ve been on over time. I always love hearing her stories of her knit scarves and shawls, and how they somehow find their way to just the right person at the right time. She has a knack for that.
I’m so glad Alison wrote this book! Ok, I’m so NOT a lace knitter, but this book makes me want to try. The patterns are clearly presented in written form as well as in charts, which is great for me since I don’t do charts very well. But the cool thing about this book is that it’s not just a great collection of beautiful patterns from the heart. It’s not just a knitting book. It’s also ABOUT the knitting. Each pattern has a story, and Alison included the story of the pattern, and the person it was for, or the situation in which it was created. Not only do the shawls and scarves presented in the book wrap the recipient of the objects in comfort, but the book does this as well. It is, indeed, a “comfort read” for knitters.
Way to go, Alison! And thanks for sharing so much of yourself and your talent with the rest of us.