Any tips for lace?

#1

Hi all!

I have decided to try lace as I am no longer in love with that shawl I was working on for my sister. I was placing an order from KP and 2 hanks of Shadow and this pattern fell into my shopping basket mysteriously. I feel like I am getting more advanced in my skills, but am I in over my head here? Any pointers anyone has for working lace would be super appreciated, as I’m virtually clueless in the lace department. Also, fingering weight on size 5’s, fast or slow? Seems reasonable in my head, but, again, clueless.

Thanks bunches!

#2

Three words: INSERT A LIFELINE :thumbsup:

#3

i have tried inserting lifelines and i manage to flub that up as well. when going back to a lifeline, are you actually knitting from the lifeline or attempting to insert your needles there? is there a suggested place or time to do this? what would you use for a lifeline with lace weight? told you i was clueless. :wink:

#4

:smiley: I use dental floss!

It is a little tricky – I tape the floss to the shaft of my left needle and just knit it in – in the beginning after every repeat of the lace pattern, then once I’m more confident I’ll do it every 2 or 3 repeats. If you have to frog back to the lifeline, I’ve found it helpful to have someone else hold the piece up (with the lifeline taut) so I can re-insert my needle where it belongs. (A lot of people insert lifelines with waste yarn and a tapestry needle, too – whatever feels most comfortable to you!)

Have you watched Amy’s lifeline video? It’s really good. :thumbsup:

#5

dental floss! that is brilliant! that is what i will do! thank you for the concise instruction, as well! i appreciate it! :smiley:

#6

Oh, that shawl is beautiful :heart: Two words of advice:

STITCH MARKERS

I use them after every repeat or two in a row. They help to keep track of your stitches. They can save you a lot of row ripping. Coupled with the lifeline, you should do just fine. Size 5’s and fingering weight? Well, it wouldn’t be a fast knit for me, but when I knit lace, I tend to slow down to make sure I’m concentrating (I distract easily LOL). Good luck to you!!!

#7

Ok, first off, Shadow from KP is GORGEOUS and I have been sitting here playing with the pattern (and ripping), I find it also to be very forgiving of the ripping. In reading the chart and stuff, I think I’m going to do just fine as long as I stick with the lifeline and stitch markers, but I have a question about the stitch markers. Are there ones that aren’t so thick and big? I have the small size Boye, the little plastic rings that come in the little clear box in red and blue. They seem a bit cumbersome for the lace yarn. I’m thinking dental floss for the markers too?

P.S. I LOVE working with this weight of yarn!

#8

You can just use loops of a different colored yarn. Just tie them around your needle and cut the ends–perfectly flexible markers. :thumbsup:

#9

come to think of it, i have some sock yarn i hate that would work perfect for that, Ingrid. Thanks bunches! (This pattern calls for 38 markers, so I really wasn’t wanting to buy lacey markers. Like your idea MUCH better!) :smiley:

#10

38 :shock: wow!

#11

i never noticed until just now you lived in New York! I grew up on Long Island. Whereabouts is Pleasant Valley?

#12

It’s near Poughkeepsie, about halfway between NYC and Albany. I grew up in the Bronx, and spent lots of time with my cousins in Long Beach. Still go down there.

#13

Mom and Dad grew up in the Bronx and my aunt lived there until about 5 years ago somewhere near Arthur Avenue and Fordham Road, I believe. I lived in N. Massapequa until I was in my teens and we never went upstate or even in that direction, really, but I have an idea where Poughkeepsie is. Always nice to “meet” another New Yorker! :slight_smile:

#14

I used to shop on Fordham Road. Lived around there when I was really little. It’s changed a bit since then, though. :rollseyes:

#15

ok, i need to revive.

I finished the first lace chart in the pattern after much ripping and restarting and then waiting for new yarn. YAY! So exciting.


I know it’s ridiculously small but I had to share anyway. :wink:

I have a concern now. I can’t use stitch markers. I’ve tried dental floss, thin yarn, everything, (even real stitch markers ;)) and they just really mess me up. I wind up dropping stitches or making holes where there shouldn’t be, so I’m just really using a marker for the center stitch. Is this going to kill me when there’s like 300 stitches on the needle or will I be able to keep up the count as I’ve been doing you think? This is of course only 25 rows and 60 or so stitches. I HAVE been using a lifeline, it’s just out for the photo, but I haven’t needed it yet, praise be to the yarn faeries.

#16

Wow, that looks AWESOME! I can’t believe you haven’t knitted lace before. Can I be your friend that gets lace shawls? :rofling:

Just kidding. Anyhow, on the stitch markers, are you just slipping them like you would a stitch, knit-wise? That’s how I saw Amy do it in the videos and that’s how I do it, and it seems to work OK. I can’t remember how I was doing it before that, but it sure didn’t work very well.

If you are already doing that, maybe some more experienced knitters can share tips on how to slip the stitch marker without causing problems.

If it was me, I would really need that stitch marker… but I tend to get kind of oblivious.

#17

you’re too sweet! it does look kinda neat, but i couldn’t say 100% that it’s RIGHT. :wink: too soon to tell with the pattern, but i like it nonetheless. it’s totally fun!

last i was using loops of yarn until 2 rows ago when i was slipping it (purlwise now that i think of it), the knot came undone and it disappeared. i probably need to take the time to sit and make a zillion little loops of yarn with better knots, as the pattern goes on about adding and moving the stitch markers on the repeats and blah blah, and it’s all over my head anyway. this was the first time i made it past 11 rows without ripping and it coincidentally was the time i didn’t use stitch markers. the way the decreases and YOs work in this pattern, i find they sometimes get a little latched together and i have to be really careful when i’m working the following purl row, and i think that’s where i was having a problem concentrating on that and then the markers too. the stitch markers don’t quite stay wher they’re supposed to when they’re near the YOs and I had trouble with that also. i’m afraid to continue without them, but kinda leary to continue with them too. :frowning:

#18

Once you become comfortable with the pattern, and can recognize where you are just by looking, you don’t need the markers if they’re causing problems. You could, just for security, only use one every X number of repeats, just to help you keep track without always having to count from the beginning of the row.

#19

ok so, i had an idea, haven’t tried it yet, no time for the shawl at the moment, but wanted to run it past you guys. i was at joanns anyway and i picked up 2 packages of brass jump rings, 7-mm size, and they are TINY and SO THIN. i figure if i still get bungled up by something so small, i got some problems. if it works, though, i figured i’d make em all fancy shmancy with some beads and stuff. i figure with the needles being silver and the yarn being like a taupe-ey purply, the brass should be fairly visible, yeah? thanks!

#20

It’s certainly worth a try. I bought beaded stitch markers from Denise (foldedbird) because they were so pretty, but honestly didn’t think I’d like them. I’ve lost hundreds of the plastic rings, but I still have all my beaded ones. I think their weight and visibility makes them easier to keep track of.