Books to Inspire Your Lace Knitting

I’ve reviewed lots of really fun lace knitting books through the years, and if you’re the sort of person who still likes paper, these are some that you should check out to help you on your lace knitting journey.

Knitting Lace by Susanna E. Lewis is a totally amazing book that details the lace patterns found in a sampler from the 19th century housed in the Brooklyn Museum. Which doesn’t sound as dramatic as it is, because the sampler is 15 feet long, averages about 14 stitches per inch worked on 0000 US needles (1.25 mm) and includes 91 different lace patterns. It was never bound off. Lewis re-creates the patterns and includes a deep exploration of how lace knitting works. There’s also information on designing lace patterns. This one is definitely a must-read if you’re interested in lace.

If you’re looking for patterns that include lace, I like Knitted Lace by Anne Merrow, which has 25 patterns including sweaters, socks, hats, tops and more.

Donna Druchunas’ Successful Lace Knitting is kind of a combination of the two, offering garments and projects based on the work of Dorothy Reade, a prolific and creative lace knitter of the 1950s through 1970s. She was a big proponent of using charts to teach lace knitting because they’re a visual representation of the knit project and are less likely to have mistakes in them for that reason.

Do you have a favorite book about lace knitting? I’d love to hear about it!

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

Have you read?