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

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Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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