Review: Lace Knitting for Beginners

For some reason, lace reminds me of spring. I guess because when it starts to get warm outside you can start thinking about wearing projects with eyelets again.

Whatever the reason, I have lace on the brain right now as we in America eagerly await spring, so I thought it was time to share a great little booklet full of lace projects for those new to lace knitting.

Lace Knitting for Beginners, compiled by Amy Palmer, is a little booklet with 11 projects for new lace knitters. It opens with a primer on reading lace charts, including what all those symbols mean and why sometimes the chart means nothing (in the case of a “no stitch” box).

Five of the patterns are for scarves. The others include a towel, tote bag, headband, book sleeve, poncho, shawl and hat. Most of the projects use charts but for the most part they aren’t very complex.

Some of my favorites include Molly’s Headband by Pam Allen, a rectangular headband with a lace panel running down the center and I-cord ties for an east fit; the simple Rain on the Prairie scarf, pictured on the cover and designed by Maureen Hefti; and the fun Peace Street Hat by Grace Akhrem, which uses a lace panel as the brim, from which stitches are picked up to knit the body of the hat in Stockinette. Accent buttons add a bit of whimsy.

There’s also a pattern by Ann Budd called A Scarf of Your Very Own, which shows several basic variations and includes information on how to design your own lace scarf, which is good information for the basics of designing just about any garment.

A glossary and techniques section round out the booklet, which is a great quick start guide for lace knitting. If you’re new to the genre and don’t want to be overwhelmed by a book full of complex projects, you should check this one out.

[Photo via Interweave/F+W.]

One of the fun things about knitters is that we will use a holiday theme on any kind of project. From Easter bunny socks to Christmas sweaters, there’s no combination of holiday motif and knitwear genre we won’t combine.

Case in point: Halloween cowls.

This fun cowl from Sweet Vireo Designs features large carved pumpkins and little cats and skulls. It uses two colors of DK weight yarn and I love the multicolored yarn for the background color on this one. And the braids! So cute.

Spooky Season by Jocelyn Tunney (also on Ravelry) uses fingering weight yarn in two colors to make a design with crescent moons and eyes. There are two circumferences and two heights available so you can make it a neck hugger or a slightly bigger project if you like.

Make more moons with the Broom Riding Cowl from Vanessa Ewing Knits. This two color pattern looks extra fun with a multicolored yarn for the colorwork, but you can use a solid as well. It calls for DK weight yarn but there is also a fingering weight version if you have some yarn in your stash you want to use.

Jinx Made has another fun Halloween cowl, this time covered in skulls. South Philly Skulls uses DK weight yarn and comes in two lengths, and there’s also a matching hat pattern, both of which can be found on Ravelry.

The Ghost Stories cowl from Melissa Knit Wear is a two-color cowl with ghosts of different sizes on the body. It uses DK weight yarn, and average sized skeins will allow you to get two cowls out of two skeins. It also calls for stitch markers to help you keep your place in the chart.

Or stitch up a cowl with a giant bat on it. The Nightling Cowl from Jen Immer uses DK weight yarn in two colors and has moons and a large bat on it. This pattern can be found on Ravelry.

How about spooky trees? The Weirwood Cowl from Andrea Krüß-Anders is inspired by the weirwood trees in the Game of Thrones books, and is worked in two colors of fingering weight yarn. You can find this free pattern on Ravelry.

If a bandana cowl is more your thing, try Cowloween from Tellybean Knits (on Ravelry). This colorful design is worked from the top down and features pumpkins, ghosts and candy colored stripes, and is worked in a light fingering weight yarn. There are kid and adult sizes available.

Have you read?