In case you wanted to see my Lacy Baktus. Here it is.
I've blocked it twice and worn in 3 times. Very cozy and colorful. The colors are a little muted in the pics because I didn't use a flash.
Finished Elizabeth the other day and am now working on The Rite. Although after I took the pic this morning (and it has taken me all day to get to this post!), One Thousand Gifts arrived in the mail, and I started it during piano this afternoon!
The new project is the Lace Ribbon Scarf, and the yarn is Spud and Chloe fine in Anemone. Love. love. love. the color and I thought the wavy-watery pattern was perfect for it. Even though it's more lace and you'd think I'd be over the lace by now after the Pretty Thing, which I threw in the top of the closet and haven't taken a picture of it since I blocked it. It really is pretty. Despite everything.
Meet my new BFF (Best Friend Forever, for you non-texters):
This little row counter is a life-saver when it comes to lace, and probably cables, too. It makes it so much easier for me to keep track of where I am.
Now, it doesn't save me from all lace mistakes. A dropped stitch, a forgotten yarn-over, or, heaven forbid, a dropped yarn-over can cause untold chaos in lace-knitting. Especially if you discover it several rows later! (Am I right, Barbara?) I'm starting to look at all these shawls and scarves that I have bookmarked with new appreciation. I don't know how people get through those without making mistakes! I'm of the firm belief that you have to finish your lace in "one take" because trying to fix a mistake is a total nightmare. Even when I catch an error while still on the row, I can't really fix it, and I have to rip out the whole thing. It's so hard to find the right little thread to pick up!
Anyway....this Lace Ribbon Scarf isn't giving me fits. Yet.
I hope I haven't jinxed myself.
Any experts out there know how to deal with difficult lace patterns and mistakes?
Can't wait to read One Thousand Gifts. This reminds me to order it ... now! =)
ReplyDeleteYour yarn selections are so beautiful.
A yarn counter...hmmm? You are all such beautiful knitters. I just started again last week and couldn't bring myself to join the Yarn Along. Maybe at the next one.:) Nice blog.:)
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
ReplyDeleteI'm not an expert, but have some lace knitting experience. Have you used a 'lifeline' before? You can probably google it to have it described better than I but it's basically a way to mark the beginning (or end) of a lace repeat.
When finishing a repeat you would thread a darning needle with a bit of scrap yarn and thread it through that row. Then if you make a mistake that needs frogging you only need to go back as far as your lifeline.
I love counters too, here's another tip that has really helped me, I keep mine in a small plastic box with a snapon lid. That way it won't accidentally get 'clicked' in my knitting basket! I don't have small children anymore that used to love playing with it, but I have accidentally changed it myself!
I hope these help and your shawl is lovely!
Happy knitting,
Lori
Oh. My. Goodness. Lori Ann! You're fabulous! That's a revolutionary idea. I found a video at knittingtips.com that shows how to use a lifeline. The repeat on this new scarf is 24 rows, so even if I had to take out 23, that would be an improvement over knitting the whole scarf again! But I guess I could use more than one lifeline if I need to. THANK YOU!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy little clicker has a lock on it for when I'm not using it, but I imagine there are some that don't. I should use that feature, though. ;-)
Thanks, Sarah and PNG!
Uh, wrong URL. You wonder why I make mistakes in my lace?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips
I love the frog counter - too cute! I'm so excited your copy of One THousand Gifts arrived, I'm hoping mine arrives today!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way as you about knitting lace and ultimately I've frogged every project - frustrating!
Beautiful batkus. It looks very "international." Do you wear it like a shawl?
ReplyDeleteMy new yarn came yesterday and I was trying to think of some way to mark my rows with what I have on-hand. I think maybe knitting markers -- I have only eight rows in my pattern and the evens are the same so maybe one marker for row 1, 2 for row 3, etc. I love the lifeline -- yes it is! I think that ripping out lace, however, is fairly fruitless. I've decided that if I'm one stitch short, a conveniently placed yo works, and the same for one stitch short -- k2tog. If more than one stitch is involved I think I'm SOL! Must pay attention!
Dear Sara, yay! I'm so glad it helped. You may just want to keep moving your lifeline up, at the beg/end of each repeat, that way you would never have to go back farther than one section.
ReplyDeleteI always do this since I am very easily distracted! And it only takes a moment.
Have fun!
X lori
And thank you for your tip!
Barbara, the Baktus is supposed to be a kerchief, evidently. I was looking at the original pattern yesterday. It's too small for a shawl; I wear it around my neck as a scarf.
ReplyDeleteOn the Pretty Thing, I did use markers to divide the 7 repeats on each row. But since the pattern didn't have row repeats exactly, I would have needed a lifeline every 5 rows probably.
I cheat sometimes with a yo or a K2Tog, but after you block it can really show up depending on the project.
Kathryn, try again now that you know the secret! :-)
Wow!!!
ReplyDeleteI just learned so much from reading through your comments. Thanks, Ladies!
the Baktus is beautiful and fun stuff about the counter, never seen one before. Thanks too for the knitting helps link, always useful :)
ReplyDeleteOh I can't wait to read 1000 gifts to!! Love your little counter to. It's on my list of things that I would like to purchase along with a needle gauge so that I can figure out what size some of the thrifted needls I have are *grin*. Happy knitting :)
ReplyDelete*BEAUTIFUL*!!
ReplyDeleteWhere do you purchase your yarn, Sara? And do you usually use wool or cotton (or acrylic, I suppose)? Wal-Mart's selection is almost nil. Thanks in advance!
you can fb me too, if it's easier :)
oh yeah, I also wanted to know how "one thousand gifts" is. I'm reading "unplanned" now - really good so far.
ReplyDeletereally pretty!
ReplyDelete