Top Tips for Newbie Lace Shawl Knitters

1. Don’t panic! If you can conquer a knit and a purl stitch then you already know how to do lace!
   
   
2. Lace does not necessarily need to be done on tiny needles with fine laceweight yarn - for a beginner it’s a good idea to think about using 4ply or even sport or DK. Whilst Laceweight can look beautiful and drape like clouds, a bright 4ply sock yarn with 4mm needles can look just as stunning. You do need circular needles though - don’t try and knit a shawl on straight needles - trust me! Ideally you want at least a 100cm cord (which should come with an interchangeable set or if you prefer fixed circulars, make sure you have some 4mm in your collection - they are really useful)
   
   
3. For a first lace pattern, my recommendation would be to chose something which has its lace pattern on one side only eg lace pattern on one side and a purl row on the second. Are you more comfortable with a chart? For a beginner I would suggest a pattern which has charts and corresponding written instructions as I have done on the Lantern Shawl - you may find you prefer a chart or you may prefer to stick to written instructions - there is no right or wrong here!
   
   
4. Chose your shape - for a beginner I would suggest a triangular or half moon shape with a simple border.
   
   
5. Think carefully about your yarn - some yarn is better suited to lace than others and certainly I would not suggest you use a fine kidsilk mohair for your first lace project - it can look beautiful, but for a first timer may cause you some problems.  HOWEVER I recommend finding a skein of yarn that you absolutely love. Something a little luxe, which you are going to adore on every stitch. Find your favorite colour or a something which is really going to complement your wardrobe.
   
   
6. Swatch……. You can practice your lace stitches over a swatch - just make it big enough for 3 or 4 repeats of the lace pattern plus a couple of edging stitches - for instance the Diamond Lace pattern on my Lantern Shawl is worked over 10 stitches and a 10 row repeat - so cast on 44 stitches and knit two stitches at each end, and 4 repeats of the pattern and knit for 20 rows.  This will give you an idea of the fabric you will create.  You might be happy with the drape, or you might wish to wash and block it - but whichever way it’s a great way to practice.
   
   
7. Stitch markers - if you feel comfortable with stitch markers these can be a great way of identifying pattern repeats and centre stitches.  My first lace shawl was Ishbel by Ysolda Teague and I can tell you I had so many stitch markers my knitting positively jangled!  I tend not to use them so much now, but they can be a lifesaver for beginners or at least in the first few rows until you get comfortable with the pattern.
   
   
8. Speaking of lifesavers…...Lifelines!  Yes these are a good idea - too many times I have had to tink back 4 rows of over 200 stitches and kicked myself hard for not having a lifeline!  The idea is to get to a point to which you can rip back to confidently and re-start from there, so at the beginning of a section for instance. There are a number of ways to put in a lifeline, but my favorite is to use the little holes where my interchangeable needles are fixed and slip through some dental floss and just knit along and the lifeline will go in behind you .  You can use cotton or other yarn, but I find the floss is easier to work with and also smells nice!  If you don’t have interchangeable needles with a hole then you can easily wait until the end of a row and thread through with a darning needle.
   
   
   

   

   
   

   
   
9. To block is to bloom…… there have been a few occasions where I have finished knitting a laceweight shawl and to be frank it’s looked like an old rag!  Soak your shawl, roll in a towel to get out the excess water and pin out very carefully, making sure to pin out points if you have or like them.  I have recently bought some blocking wires and they have been great for getting a really even edge.  Blocking is not a quick job - get a cup of tea - your favorite playlist on Spotify and then take your time - it really is worth it in the end!
   
   
   

   

   My Swallowtail shawl looked pretty awful in the knitting!

   
   

   

   But look how it bloomed!

   
   
   
10. Show Off!  There is nothing better to show off to your non knitting friends and family than a lace shawl - they cannot help but be impressed! Then cast on the next one, because my friend you are now a shawl knitter and it’s addictive!

Lantern Shawl is Back!

So I am delighted to present the Lantern Shawl!

If you go back through many many posts on this blog you will find that way back when I was asked by Jocelyn of Dubai Knits to put together a design which would reflect the Lanterns of the Philippine Lantern Festivals.

I worked on that thought and came up with the Lantern Shawl - all ready to go to Jocelyn to be released with her funky yarn for the December Dubai Knits yarn club.

However disaster struck and I knocked my Mac onto the floor (we have marble floors here in the UAE!!) and managed to smash the hard drive!  I lost everything because my Time Machine also decided to crash, so I ended up having to re-write the pattern in some haste!

For me it was never quite perfect and indeed those people who knitted it had some issues with the edging and whilst there are some lovely projects already on Ravelry, I was not happy.

Roll on a few years and I have FINALLY re-written the pattern into a format which I am happy with. I have amended the edging to make it more user friendly and have now knitted the Lantern Shawl 3 times!

The last and best version is in Madelinetosh Light in the colour way Kitten and I am very pleased with it.  The drape of the yarn is simply gorgeous and the colour sways between a pale brown and a browny grey depending on how it catches the light!

So to celebrate the re-release I am going to make the new revised Lantern Shawl pattern FREE for the first 48 hours!  Please use the code LANTERN0716 when checking out on Ravelry. After the initial 48 hours it will be available for $5.

For those who have already downloaded the original version, I will be sending out an update and I hope that if anyone has started to knit and then frogged because of the edging issues that you might try again!

Never tried lace before? Then come back to my next blog post where I will share some tips and tricks!

Exciting Times

I am very happy to announce that finally my Lantern Shawl pattern will be re-released tomorrow!

I have worked hard on this to make it the best it can be and iron out the errors - ok they were only small but they bugged me!

Its re-written to enable knitters to follow along easily with lots of stitch counts and details row by row.

Come back and visit tomorrow and you can get the Coupon Code which will be available for 48 hours to download the pattern for free.

If you have already downloaded the original version I will be sending you the replacement pattern for free!

I am so grateful for the support of the knitting community who have given me the push up the backside to get me confident enough to put my designs back out there!!

Bigger on The Inside!

Last week I finally finished my 'Bigger on the Inside' shawl.

As you might know from previous posts - we are huge Dr Who fans in this household and since the 'new' series began back with the 9th Doctor - the lovely Christopher Ecclestone - we have not missed an episode!

Fred and I have been along to the Dr Who exhibition when it was in London, we have also made the Tardis for a school project on 'Time Machines' and Fred went to school dressed at the 11th Doctor - Matt Smith - for his 'film and TV star day'!!

We even own an inflatable Dalek!!

Fred as Matt Smith, various Dr Who themed Birthday gifts, Inflatable Dalek and home made Tardis for a school project!!

So was it any surprise at all that I wanted to knit the 'Bigger on the Inside Shawl' by Kate Atherley??

The pattern is available on Knitty.com and after looking through the projects on Ravelry I decided to work with the Knit Picks Gloss Fingering in the Winter Night colourway.

I have to admit I had started the shawl once before in lace weight and it was a disaster!  The lace section had completed confounded me and I frogged it!  However this time it was a lot easier in fingering weight yarn and whilst you still needs to have your wits about you whilst doing the lace section, it did make for much easier knitting.

I took it with me on our first trip to the UK this year and spend a lovely few days on the Kent coast in quirky Dungeness and made some good progress!

A gorgeous spot for knitting!

After the lace section however I got hooked up with other projects and finally I picked up the project in September, wanting to finish it for the new series!  However that was not to be!

I finally got it finished last week.  Its a lot of knitting but the little Tardis' (Tardii??) were interesting to knit and the yarn was very easy to knit with so the last part flew along!

Lace section

The shawl is subtle enough to wear without anyone screaming 'Dr Who Weirdo!' at me! I did wear it to the Abu Dhabi Gaming Convention on Friday last week - just before our drama which resulted in Fred having to have his appendix out!! Because of that we did not get any photos sadly - but will try again as soon as Fred is better and can hold the camera up!!

So if you are a Dr Who Nerd like me - give it a go - its very cute!


Read more detail on my Ravelry Project page Geronimo!