A Bit of Lace Dolly Shawl

Posted on December 1, 2012 by jackiees

The final month’s featured pattern in the year-long Bits of Lace 2012 Project Series is upon us!

Along the lines of the nursery tale about Goldilocks and the Three Bears, our December Bits of Lace project is

  • not too big
  • not too small
  • I hope you will agree that it’s just right

It’s A Bit of Lace Dolly Shawl, a small top-down Faroese-style shawl with an attached edging as a bind off. The size is suitable for 18” dolls and teddy bears, making it a delightful gift for a lucky doll or teddy bear lover!

In keeping with the Goldilocks idea, I even talked Miss Teddy Bear into modeling. 

A Bit of Lace Dolly Shawl - or Teddy Bear shawl in this case!

A Bit of Lace Dolly Shawl – or Teddy Bear shawl in this case!

A Bit of Lace Dolly Shawl is a great way to have fun learning on a small shawl before putting the time into a larger shawl. You’ll learn

  • the basics of shaping a top-down Faroese-style shawl
  • the attach-as-you-knit method for knitting a lace edging as a bind off

To get started, go to the Free Membership Pattern area and pick up the pattern now. A Bit of Lace Dolly Shawl will be available free for a limited time only to active, logged-in KnitHeartStrings.com members. This offer is only good for December, so don’t wait too long!

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New MEMBER GALLERY now available

Posted on November 29, 2012 by jackiees

I’m excited to announce that the new MEMBER GALLERY is now available. This is YOUR gallery, dear members to share and enjoy photos of yours and other members’ KnitHeartStrings projects.

Please help grow the gallery into an inspiring resource for everyone by uploading any Bits of Lace project photos you have now.

When you visit the Member Gallery, you will see that the page is in Beta status. I’ve uploaded a few photos to just get things started, and to test the process. But of course there is a need for LOTS more photos. And YOUR photos will make things a lot more interesting than just seeing what I have done.

I can’t wait to see what you’re making and what you’ve made. Don’t be shy. And let me know if you need any help.

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Shopping list for December’s free pattern project

Posted on November 26, 2012 by jackiees

I hope that the shift in schedule to do lace ribbons in November has helped those who needed to get their gifts ready for mailing early. My original idea of having the small ribbon project in December was so that you (and I) would not be overwhelmed by a too-large project in the midst of the holidays. I was happy to accommodate the schedule change (after all, that is the meaning of “tentative” – right?). But then that sort of left me in a dilemma of what then to do for December.

After tossing around several possibilities, I came up with what I call a “Goldilocks” project. It’s not too big. It’s not too small. And I hope you will agree that it’s “just right”.

And so … tah-da … the December project will be A Bit of Lace Dolly Shawl. The focus is an introduction to attaching a knitted edging to knitted fabric using an attach-as-you-knit method. We’ll also cover the basics of shaping a top-down Faroese-style shawl.

A Bit of Lace Dolly Shawl will be a great way to have fun learning on a small shawl before putting the time into a larger shawl. Even if you aren’t into this for the learning, you can make the little shawl as a delightful gift for a lucky doll or teddy bear lover!

Finished Size
Approximate 8″ center back length. For example, the size is suitable for 18″ dolls and teddy bears. Length is easily adjusted by knitting longer than suggested (just remember to allow for additional yarn!).

Tools and Supplies
Approximately 100 yards of any fingering weight or light sport weight yarn.
Size 7 or 8 US (5 mm) needles.
4 markers, 1 of which is a different color.

Gauge
Approximately 18 stitches = 4″ in garter stitch

Miss Teddy Bear is waiting for me to knit her shawl

Miss Teddy Bear is waiting for me to knit her shawl

I’ll post the pattern for A Bit of Lace Dolly Shawl in the Free Membership Pattern area on December 1st.  Shop or stash-dive now so you can get started as soon as the pattern is ready. What yarn is your dolly or teddy calling for you to make their shawl?

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Reminder – Quick Ornament with a Bit of Lace

Posted on November 25, 2012 by jackiees

I hope you are well under way to getting your gifts wrapped with the handmade touch of knitted lace ribbons. If you are like me, it’s made getting ready for the holiday season an excuse to go stash-diving or shop-hopping for pretty yarns.

Not that you probably don’t already have enough to do, I wanted to remind you of another idea that you might want to add to the holiday season knitting line-up.

Bead-pinned Knitted Lace Edging Ornament

Bead-pinned Knitted Lace Edging Ornament

It is the quick ornament posted earlier this year. The instructions for Bead-pinned Lace Edging Ornament are still available free to members.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a sneak peek at what’s in the works for the December project for Bits of Lace. Be sure to stop by then so you can get advance notice of the materials you’ll need. That way you can be ready to start as soon as the free pattern is ready on December 1.

 

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Ribboned Knitted Ribbon

Posted on November 19, 2012 by jackiees

As mentioned in yesterday’s Stairway to Heaven Lace Knitted Ribbon discussion on using elements of lace edgings in new ways, this ribbon is similar to the heading portion that might be found on some lace edging patterns through which a ribbon itself is planned to be woven in and out of.

To make your Stairways to Heavens Knitted Ribbons even more festive and distinctive, an additional idea is to weave commercial ribbon you might already have on hand through your knitted ribbon. Think of it as Ribboned Ribbon!

Weaving in commercial ribbon that has some stiffness can also turn a limp ribbon (depending on the yarn/thread you had on hand to knit your ribbon) into a pretty bow without the need to starch and block the knitted ribbon beforehand.

It’s easy. Here’s how to –

Tip 1: Weave a narrow satin ribbon in and out of the lace holes.

Ribboned Knitted Ribbon

Ribboned Knitted Ribbon

Tip 2: If you have a wider commercial ribbon you want to use, knit your Stairways of Heaven ribbon with a double yarn over instead of single yarn over on Row 2. Then work a stitch into each of the 2 loops (rather than 2 stitches into a single yarn over). This makes a longer ladder “rung” (and thus can accommodate a wider ribbon).

I hope this gives you even more ideas of how you can make ribbons on your gifts memorable, and even become gifts in themselves.

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Stairway to Heaven Lace Knitted Ribbon

Posted on November 18, 2012 by jackiees

Last week, we explored the Picot Loops ribbon as an idea for using elements of lace edgings in new ways. This week, let’s continue the discussion with the other version, Stairway to Heaven, that is included in the Knitted Ribbons pattern.

This ribbon is similar to the heading portion that might be found on some lace edging patterns such as those designed to look like hem-stitching, or through which a ribbon itself might be woven. This type of heading can be made in many ways, but they all have a stairway, or ladder-like rung look in common. Let’s look in more detail about the approach used here (and some variations you might want to play around with, too).

Stairway to Heaven Knitted Ribbon

Stairway to Heaven Knitted Ribbon

Using a single yarn over as though it were a double yarn over

Row 2 of Stairway to Heaven says “p1 then k1 into yo of previous row”. Effectively, we are increasing a stitch in the yarn over of the previous row.

This is similar to what we discussed earlier this year in the Tips & Techniques article  Substituting a single yarn over for a double yarn over eyelet. There are 2 minor differences:

  1. We are reversing the sequence of doing the k1 and p1 which was the example used in that article. There’s a bit of a difference in the results under the microscope, but hardly any. In fact, try the k1 and p1 sequence in your ribbon and see if you like it better, or if you feel it even matters. There are detailed step-by-step photo instructions in the article if you need some extra help.
  2.  The article’s focus was geared towards substituting a single yarn over to intentionally reduce the size of a double yarn over planned for in a pattern. In the ribbon pattern, I designed for using a single yarn over to start with. The extra stitch that is worked into the single yarn over is decreased out immediately on the following row to result in the stairway or ladder-like rung effect.

This would be a good time to re-read Playing around with variations of the double yarn over. Even though this article was focused on the double yarn over, likewise to the discussion above you can experiment with any of these sequences on the single yarn over of Row 2  Stairway to Heaven pattern.

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10 Reasons for Ribbons

Posted on November 9, 2012 by jackiees

Knitted Ribbon in chained metallic gold yarnThere is a saying that goes something like “the best things come in small packages”. Around here we say “the best gifts are tied with heartstrings”. Even a little heart-felt knitted ribbon can make your gift stand out and be memorable.

I think that lace Knitted Ribbons have come close to making the almost perfect all-around bitty project for everyone. Here are 10 top reasons (in no particular order) I’ve collected from Bits of Lace members’ comments so far. Continue reading →

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