Upcoming project schedule for October: a change and a surprise

Posted on September 23, 2012 by jackiees

I’m changing the upcoming project schedule for Bits of Lace – I hope this doesn’t inconvenience anyone. Instead of the Lace-Edged Hanky, I’ve got a small, seasonal project planned for you instead in October. For now I am keeping it a surprise!  Continue reading →

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Stockinette Lace Knitting

Posted on September 22, 2012 by jackiees

Even though this month’s Lace-edged Doily project uses finer thread and tinier needles than last month’s lace-edged towel project, there are a couple of things about the doily project that you might be find make it easier to offset the challenge of finer and tinier.  Continue reading →

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Shopping list for October’s Lace-edged Hanky project

Posted on September 15, 2012 by jackiees

September 22, 2012 update: CHANGE IN SCHEDULE. I am going to defer the Lace-edged Hanky project until a later date (probably as part of the 2013 project series). I hope this doesn’t inconvenience anyone. I’ve got a small, seasonal project planned for you instead in October. I’ll be posting about it soon, so stay tuned!  Continue reading →

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Crochet Provisional Cast On – Method 2

Posted on September 14, 2012 by jackiees

This second provisional cast on method crochets waste thread loops directly onto a knitting needle. Then the loops are knitted with the actual project thread to create the cast on row.

In last week’s article on Starting the Lace Doily Edging: Provisional Cast On, I described the Crochet Chain Provisional Cast On as just one of the methods you could use to start your doily edging. I didn’t want to leave anyone out of the loop if you did not already have a favorite provisional cast on. As long as you end up with 15 loops of lace thread ready to be knitted on your needle after completing your provisional cast on, any method to get there is fine as far as I know. (I know I am tempting fate by someone coming up with something weird, lol.)

For those who do not already have a favorite method, I suggested the crochet chain method because in my years of teaching and writing pattern instructions, I’ve found that it is the easiest to describe and for people to understand in the least amount of time. Especially for the few stitches such as being used in this lace edging, it works well enough.

There is also another method that involves crochet that is quite easy. Continue reading →

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5 Tips for Selecting a Perfect Waste Thread

Posted on September 13, 2012 by jackiees

Waste thread  – (in knitting) a temporary thread that will be removed later

Although the term “waste thread” is widely accepted in knitting instructions, I feel it is somewhat a misnomer. To me it implies something that has no value. I don’t want someone thinking they can just grab anything and it will work fine. Although it might, it might not. Similar to how you give much consideration to selecting the actual (permanent) thread for your project, it will be worthwhile to give thought to what you  use for waste thread. Continue reading →

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Starting the Lace Doily Edging: Provisional Cast On

Posted on September 4, 2012 by jackiees

The lace edging for this month’s doily project is knitted flat, but we will want to eventually join the beginning and end of the strip invisibly into a circle to go around the cloth doily center.

For the Quick Lace-edged Baby Socks earlier this year, we used a “nearly invisible” method for joining a strip of lace edging into a circle to go around the cuff of the sock. That method was easy and good enough for our purposes in that project, especially as the seam would not be all that noticeable at the back of the sock anyway.

However, for a project like this month’s doily, I prefer an invisible join. This involves more involved techniques: provisional cast on and grafting.

Lace-edged Doily Working a totally invisible join in lace can be challenging. In the spirit of taking bit-sized steps in advancing our skills in lace knitting, I’ve selected a lace edging for this doily project that can be grafted in plain stockinette stitch (Kitchener Stitch). Continue reading →

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Slight Change to September Schedule

Posted on August 31, 2012 by jackiees

Just a quick status update for the upcoming Lace-edged Doily pattern that I said was planned to post tomorrow, September 1.

Reality has caught up with me and I wanted to let you know I am running a bit late. Blame it on the distraction of hurricane Isaac — it was really hard for me to concentrate on much of anything this week. Fortunately, things are much better than they could have been from the possible effects from the storm’s wind and flooding. I am safe, damage to my house seems minimal, and I will return home soon.

Currently I am working hard to catch up on things, including getting the pattern for this month’s Bits of Lace project posted as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.

p.s. Meantime, until I can get the Lace-Edged Doily posted to the free membership pattern area for the September project, I will leave the Spiraling Diamonds Towel pattern for August available there. Let all of your knitting friends know to sign up for Bits of Lace as they might still be able to grab the August pattern before I take it down.

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