Category: Lace Knitting

A Blanket for CharlotteA Blanket for Charlotte

As I did for her big brother, I knit a blanket for Charlotte using cotton yarn. For this blanket, I used “I Love This Cotton!” yarn from Hobby Lobby. This is a lovely yarn that knits up into a soft fabric with wonderful drape. It’s machine washable — which is a must for baby items.

Charlotte's Blanket

The pattern is Leafy Baby Blanket by Leyla Alivea. It is a free pattern available on her blog, Silk & Wool and also on Ravelry. It’s an easy lace pattern — and as you can see — I got great stitch definition with the yarn.

Other details: Yarn – I Love This Cotton! in Colorway 74 Pink, 180 yds/skein. Used 5 skeins(900 yds)
Needles: US Size 8 (5.00 mm)
Finished measurements: 36″ X 40″

Returning to Blog and FO: Clapotis ShawlReturning to Blog and FO: Clapotis Shawl

I have been away from blogging for about five months. There were a number of reasons for this. First, I just got busy with other things and didn’t seem to be able to find time to sit down and write any posts. And then, my knitting projects just didn’t seem to be getting finished — even though I was knitting. And then, my husband started on our remodeling project — which was/is my office. The remodeling will be worth it when it is done — but when it will be done doesn’t seem to be anytime soon. I now have my computer set up in the spare bedroom and I have retrieved a few skeins of yarn and patterns from the boxes I packed up several weeks ago — so I can knit. But heaven help me if I need to find any of my knitting books or any of my yarn stash! It’s all in boxes and plastic containers, stacked three deep and nearly to the ceiling in the garage. (So any future knitting projects are an excuse to go yarn shopping…) I’ll update you on the remodeling progress — here’s to hoping it’s done by the time I need to decorate for the Christmas holiday.

I do have a finished object! I have finished my Clapotis shawl.

Clapotis Shawl Clapotis shawl - full length

I haven’t blocked it yet. Blocking will have to wait until I have free floor space again (remodeling). Here are the details:

Pattern: Clapotis – free on Knitty.com
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr (50% wool, 50% silk) Colorway: Teal Needles: U.S. 4 (3.5 mm)
Since this is a laceweight yarn, I knit 18 repeats of the straight rows to get the length I wanted.
Unblocked the shawl measures 17 inches wide by 62 inches long. It will be wider and longer after blocking.

It’s a lovely, soft shawl and I am very happy with the way it turned out. I liked the finished shawl so much, I cast-on another using Knit Picks Gloss from my stash. More about this WIP another time.

WIP: Clapotis Scarf in Jaggerspun ZephyrWIP: Clapotis Scarf in Jaggerspun Zephyr

I have started another project even though I have at least two others on needles. I just got the itch to knit the Clapotis Scarf pattern along with some of the other members of my knitting guild. It took me a bit of time to decide to join the knit-along, because I wanted to use yarn from my stash rather than buy yarn for this project. I finally settled on the Jaggerspun Zephyr lace weight yarn I had left over from a lace scarf I knit for my DD a couple of years ago. This yarn is 50% fine grade merino wool and 50% Chinese Tussah silk in 2/18 Lace Weight. The colorway is Teal. I am using size US 4 (3.5 mm) needles.

This scarf is knit by starting at one point of a parallelogram and increasing stitches until you reach the desired width of the scarf. Then you knit a series of straight row sections until you have your desired length and then you decrease stitches until you reach the far corner of the scarf. Along the way, you drop stitches to create an open pattern between rows of stockinette stitches.
So far, I have knitted the increase section to the point where I will begin the straight rows and start dropping stitches. Here’s a picture:

The Clapotis pattern is free on Knitty.com. Here’s a link to the pattern: Clapotis Pattern

FO: My Traveling Woman ShawlFO: My Traveling Woman Shawl

Traveling Woman Shawl

I started this shawl the end of October and finished it in December. For me, this is a fairly quick knit in a lace pattern. The pattern is free on Ravelry and is quite popular. The shawl is knit in a triangle, starting at the center neck and grows as you knit it. It has a fagotted edging along the neckline. You knit the shawl in stockinette stitch to a selected number of stitches and then begin the feather and fan lace pattern. You are given an option to increase the number of pattern repeats you do so that your shawl will be longer and then you follow the second lace pattern to make the edging.

I knit this using Forsell Superwash Wool, 3 ply yarn and size 4 needles. This yarn is closer to a lace weight yarn than a fingering weight yarn and is actually a machine knitting yarn. If I were to do this shawl again, I would definitely go with a heavier yarn as I think the lace pattern would be better in at least a fingering weight yarn. I also would use a stretchy bind-off, rather than the one given in the pattern as my bound off edge was not as stretchy as I would have liked it to be and did not scallop like I thought it should when I blocked it.

The pattern itself is a very nice one, easy to follow. The finished shawl measured 19.5 inches by 56 inches, so it is more of a scarf than a shawl.

See details on my Ravelry Projects page.