Thursday 22 July 2010

Beginning with Lace

When i first got back into knitting, you might be surprised to know that it wasn't because i wasn't seduced by fantastic socks, or scrumptious hats or even the thought of having my very own handknit collection of cardigans.
No. I hankered after lace. Ever the unconventional one, the very first thing i knit when i started again was the checkerboard lace scarf by Whitney Van Nes over at Purl Bee. It's not hugely complicated but it's not what i'd call a beginner pattern either. I jumped straight in, giving no real thought to difficulty and trudged through it.

I'll be honest, i didn't learn much from it. I didn't understand about left and right leaning decreases. All i understood was that a yarn over created a hole.

Since then i joined the Beginning Lace Knitters group over on Ravelry and started understanding the relevance of the stitches i knitted and how they looked in patterns.

Last week i cast on for my first KAL (knit along) with the group and finished Summer Flies on Monday night. Last night i gave it a gentle wash in the machine and it's now wet blocking in the back bedroom.

I'm so pleased with it. I didn't strictly stick to the pattern (but then i rarely do, like i said, unconventional). I didn't do the ruffle edge or the picot bind-off and i intend to add fringe. Afterall, what is a neckerchief without fringe?

So there's my guilty lace secret, laid out on the table. What was it that seduced you into the dark needle arts?

4 comments:

  1. It turned out so wonderful! I can't wait to see more detail (hint, hint, hint!).

    I was extremely attracted to lace in the beginning, too, only via crochet. When I was a teenager, I accidentally taught myself to knit as I was working through a stitch book and suddenly needed two hooks for a stitch called "casting on" Once I realized what had happened, boy, it sure was easier on pointy needles!

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  2. @Snowcatcher
    Ha! I can't imagine trying to knit with two crochet hooks, i bet that was so hard!

    More pictures coming tomorrow when the scarf is all tasselled :)

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  3. My mum made actual lace - ooooh, you'd like that. The bobbins the thread hangs from were really beautiful - you weight them with beads, so as you can imagine, sod the lace; just choosing the beads to hang from the bobbins was fun! I must try and find you a picture.
    x x x

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  4. @Catherine
    Whoa, that's proper bobbin lace! It looks so intricate. I have an old readers digest encyclopedia of needlecraft and bobbin lace is in there. Maybe one day, when i've exhausted my penchant for knitting...

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