Add a Little Lace to Your Sweater

I don’t know why I think of lace knitting as being for spring and summer, but I do. I guess it’s because those holes let in a little more air, which is decidedly not something we want to happen when it’s cold outside.

But as the weather warms I always feel a pull toward lace knitting. If you’re new to knitting lace, or just don’t want or need to knit a lace shawl, knitting a sweater with eyelet elements is a great place to start, or a way to get some lace in your life that’s not too frilly (not that we’re against frilly!).

The Gem Sweater by Irene Lin is a great project in this genre. It’s worked with a sport and lace weight yarn held together to make a worsted weight, or you could just use worsted if you’d rather. If you’re new to lace this is a great way to start because you don’t have to use the little needles that often go with traditional lace.

The sweater itself is worked from the top down and features an allover diamond lace pattern. The pattern is available in 7 sizes that range in chest measurement from 50 to 74.75 inches, or 127 to 190 centimeters. As you might guess from those measurements, it’s designed to have a lot of ease. The sample shown, for example, has 17.5 inches, or 44 cm, of positive ease, but of course you don’t have to have that much if your chest measurement is 50 or above.

This would be a great sweater to knit and wear during those transitional seasons when you need an extra layer but maybe not a super heavy one. I think it would be cute over a summer dress, too, at the beach or anywhere you need some more warmth on an otherwise warm day.

You can grab the pattern from Ravelry; it’s available in English, Japanese and Korean.

[Photo: Irene Lin]

Twisted Lace Headband Knitting Pattern

Knit a Lace Shawl for Cooler Weather

Next Pattern:

Not too long ago I was seeing a crochet pattern for a glasses holder shaped like a bear all over the Internet. It was super cute, and also useful as a place to put your glasses on your bedside table instead of just throwing them somewhere random.

This project stewed in my brain for a little while and I decided I needed to make a knit version, but I didn’t want to make a bear. If you know anything about me you might know that I’m a cat person, so of course my version had to be a cat.

The base is just a basic little basic worked from the center out to the desired size, then up the sides as long as you want them. Knit some ears and add embellishments to make it whatever kind of animal you want.

The way I figured out to work the base from the center out was to use a crochet cast on, which gives you an easier way to pick up stitches from the back of the cast on than if you worked a more traditional cast on for a knitting project. It’s kind of fun to do things in a different way from time to time.

This little project is adorable if I do say so myself, and even as a plain little basket not made into an animal it’s a cute way to keep your glasses or other little things in one place. I’m tempted to make one for my desk to hold pens or even little little scissors and sewing needles that are always on my desk but somehow always seem to get lost on my desk.

If you need a little holder for your glasses on your table, check out the pattern at Our Daily Craft.

[Photo: Our Daily Craft]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?