More On Lace

I remembered a few things I forgot yesterday! STITCH MARKERS!!! They are so helpful. Especially when you are a beginner and you have a kazillion stitches on your needles and can't see the forest through the trees! :-) Stitch markers are placed in between the pattern repeats and/or in between different patterns that are used together in lace. When you think you have a problem, you can go to that section of stitches and count to see if you have the right amount.

Stitch markers can be just little pieces of yarn that you have tied in a ring, preferably a different and contrasting yarn than you normally use so that you can see them! Stitch markers can be rubber or plastic rings or they can be 'jewelry' for your knitting! Just make sure that the marker is not too heavy and is well made so that the yarn does not catch on it. If you are a beader you can easily make them. I found this site that tells you how to make stitch markers. My favorite sets of stitch markers came from Karen who I think I found on the Aran Knitting list. Her prices are reasonable and they are well made. I have a set of silver Celtic knot designed with purple beads and a set of miniature ceramic Killer Whales. The kids love seeing those on my knitting! :-) My friend Amanda also makes them and sells them from her website and from eBay. Check her out!

I did mention Jackie Erickson Schweitzer yesterday. But I forgot to tell you about the Elegantly Simple Shawl which I did as part of a KAL. You can see mine in the August Archives but you need to scroll down past all my vacation pics! (I knit this for my prayer shawl ministry and if you pray, please say a prayer for Kathy, its recipient who is battling Ovarian Cancer. Chemo is no longer working, though I think they are going to try yet another kind.) The Elegantly Simple shawl is a good beginning pattern. It's simple and can look dazzling, elegant, striking, classic...depending on the type of yarn you chose. The pattern can be purchased from Heritage Yarns. This is a pattern that I already have yarns to do twice again!

Another easy beginner's shawl pattern is Kiri designed by Polly in England who has some other nice free patterns on the left side of her blog. Her blog is interesting to read too. She knits quite a few socks, but she also travels and sometimes features recipes. You might enjoy the read. When I have time I will put her button on my blog.

Lace Edgings

Lacis in Berkeley (Field Trip Amy?! Debra?!)

Northern Lace Liz Lovick is an incredible knitter, designer (recent article in Interweave Knits) and is the list owner for Traditional Knitting

W&F Originals (scroll down and check out the Orchid Pi pattern)

Yarn Over Different lace resources here including some patterns for bookmarks which are a nice beginner lace project...you can do it quickly and see the end! Also notice that at the bottom of her site is a link to the lace webring, if you click on there you will probably find some neat sites.

Katsara Luxury Yarns has some free scarf patterns.

Furryarns (I have not purchased from them but drooled over the handpainted Zephyr!)

Knitting Beyond The Hebrides Lace Symposium Various informative articles including one from Dorothy Siemens of Fiddlesticks on how she designed the Peacock shawl I mentioned yesterday.

Lisa Souza Incredible dye artist with some nice lace yarns.

Creative Popoffs Kat has a 3/4 fir cone pattern for a shawl that I have been wanting to try.

Pink Lemon Twist This blogger has some patterns on the right side of her blog, some free and some for sale. I purchased the Scheherezade but have not knit it yet. I believe it started out as one of the mystery stoles KALs .

Miriam Felton and Mim Knits Miriam has a few published designs, probaly the most recent is the Icarus Shawl which was published in Interweave Knits. She has patterns for purchase. And thanks to Cary's enabling, I have the Hidcote Gardens Shawl pattern which I hope to knit this year.

If you search the yahoogroups you will probably find several lace knitting groups or KALs (Knitalongs) that could be helpful. I love groups but have had to keep mine to a minimum for practical reasons.

Well, it is now lunch time for the kiddos, so I will publish this and if I think of anything else, I will do another lace post. Also I would LOVE to know what your resources are for lace knitting!