Then Alla, who chose to alter her edging...nicely done and beautiful color.
Next is Kate, my communicater and close friend....I just love the vibrant color and she chose to use slightly larger needles and a fingering weight....Perfectly pretty!
And finally, Lotta's version in a Fantastic hazy blue.....an Incredible example of the pattern.....
Behind the scenes and yet most important of all...Akshata, my wonderfully, patient tech editor....Much gratitude for helping make sure my pattern was acceptable.
Many, many hours went into these projects and I am very proud to display them.
Inspired by the peonies and lilies blooming in and around our southern township of Troy, South Carolina, the main stitch pattern is a version of the Blossom Stitch found in many Estonian lace patterns and is expanded and modified for presentation in this pattern. The shawl can be started with either Five or Seven leaves with instructions provided for both styles.
Beginning with a provisional cast on, five or seven leaves are produced in this neck down pattern which lead into blooms that cascade and surround the shoulders and back. Increases at each side of this shawl produce a shallow yet elongated style in a semi-circular shape with a slight flare at the wingtips, scallop edging, somewhat crescent shaping and finished with a chain crochet bind off. Once blocked, the lace is pronounced and drapes well to produce a light and delicate shawl.
Approximately 575 yards of lace weight yarn is needed for the Five Leaves style as written and is not intended for enlargement. 675 yards are needed for the Seven Leaves style as written and may be enlarged. Enlarging the Seven Leaves style will require additional yardage. This pattern requires no specific gauge but is intended to be knit loosely in either style.
Instructions are given in both written and chart form with details on abbreviations and working the pattern to completion. Designer/Sample, Blocking notes and sample photos are included for greater detail. Every effort to produce a pattern free of errors has been made.
The featured shawl is of “Honey”, 100% Claudia Hand-painted Silk, and was made by following the instructions for the Five Leaves/ Six Blooms Style.
Available through Ravelry.com and Patternfish.com
Feminine and lacey… a classic, full shawl suitable for formal evenings, weddings or chilly nights at the seashore.
Covington is a triangular shawl, which begins at the back neck with just enough increases to form gentle shoulder shaping. The pattern is knit flat with straight or circular needles. Minimum knowledge of lace increases and decreases is required.
Fully charted, Covington also has written instructions and is size adjustable. A variety of yarn fibers, weights and needle sizes are suitable.
The project begins with the formation of a single petal and is finished with a total of 15 petals lining the hem edge. Strategically placed increases and decreases provide perfect radiation, flowing drape and ease in blocking.
The featured shawl measures 72” across the
wingspan and 45” from back neck to tip.
Barksdale Ferry Road is most recent lace project. Weekly walks on our road are pleasant and refreshing. Once part of a pathway for merchants and their horse-drawn wagons, down the hill and past the bubbling creek, this meandering, dirt road was cut within a deep forest setting with one hundred foot tall Oak and Pine trees. Hidden among these massive giants… colorful mosses, ferns, lichens, and the Dogwoods growing freely…with leaves as prominent as their springtime blooms. Through the foliage, glimmering light from the sun peeks through, spreading warmth and life that only nature can provide. Although the road has been virtually chopped up, paved in some areas and eliminated in others, this two mile stretch remains. It has historic value but for me, the joy of a peaceful stroll and discovery of life.
Barksdale Ferry Road© is a circular lace pattern, knit from the center, radiating outward and develops into a square. Suitable as a shawl or table covering, the pattern is size adjustable and is finished with a combination centered picot and stretch bind off. Some knowledge of lace knitting and the use of DPNs is helpful. Stitch counts are provided for up to 167 rounds of the stitch pattern. Due to the transition from circular to square, this pattern has written instructions throughout and includes a chart for the repeating stitch pattern section only.
As with most circularly knit projects, gauge is determined by the type and weight of yarn and size of needles to be used. This pattern radiates well and can be blocked easily with the use of wires. A combination of knit and various increase/ decrease stitches together for a pleasantly flowing union. As the project progresses, increases at each corner producing additional stitch pattern repeats. The featured project was produced using 750 yards of Handmaiden Seasilk on size 5(US) needles. It finishes at 40” square, 54” diagonal.
Oh the joys of working with silk! This is a wonderful blend of merino wool and silk. Bette Marchese with bbknits.com produces this beautiful colorway.
The coming year, 2010, will be a year to knit lace shawls.....A total of 10 is the goal of the group, ravelry.com/groups/10-shawls-in-2010 recently formed on Ravelry.com. Can you do it? Why not??? First of all, kick out any notions that you can't do this. With cooperation from our husbands and any children that remain at home(yeah, right), we'll band together, sticks in hand and knit lace til we drop! Right??? Agreed???
Also, Lost City Knits/blogspot.com, is holding a yarn giveaway contest that ends on December 31, 2009, a 500 yard skein of Lost City Knit's, Silver Bell yarn!!! Beautiful stuff! So, I'm offering up my own design, recently published on Ravelry and soon to be offered through Knitpicks' designer program for $1.99.....CHALICE TRIANGLE SHAWL
The first person to make a comment about the Lost City Knits contest, to my blog will, of course, receive the PDF for Chalice Triangle absolutely free!!! See ya'll!
Squircle is a portmanteau word used to refer to a mathematical shape with properties between those of a square and those of a circle.
So if you decide to knit a lace project in a circle, manipulating the stitches until it becomes a square it will become a SQUIRCLE!!!
Just another version of Sunstar for my collection of Lace Beauties!!! Now, this is made from a product, produced by Valley Yarns called Carpet Warp in Spectra Yellow. Looks very "Sunnish" wouldn't you say? And yes, you read that right...Carpet Warp. Untrampled and free from cat/dog hair and sand particles! Carpet Warp is a very soft, 100% Cotton that consists of 4 plys of size 8 thread. It's slightly thinner than a 3/2 but larger than a 5/2. I would think it would work as well for crochet as it does for knitting. It can be found in the Weaving section at Yarn.com (WEBS)
Hope to post again soon!
He took an ordinary clipboard and some thin sheet metal, purchased from the hardware store. Then he cut the metal so that it covers the front and wraps around the edges of the board on both sides and the bottom. It is formed to the shape of the board.
Next, he used reinforced duct tape to cover the edges of the metal on the back. Wha La!!! I had some thin magnetic, 8-1/2” x 11 sheets, found at an office supply store. I cut a strip about 4” to use, big enough to cover lines that follow the line I’m reading. Cut a second strip 1” for covering the previous lines. Since I like to make notes when knitting, I stuck a Post It note onto the magnet strip.
Highly functional, simple, portable and cheap!!
LILAC HEARTS TABLECOVER
Just love this particular design! When I found the book, "First Book of Modern Lace Knitting", I spent hours pouring over the beautiful designs... Lots of large projects and very pretty but this one jumped out and said, "EXTEND ME" and as you know, I am the Extension Queen! An obsession of mine to see if I can do it and get the design to be my own to a certain point.
The "Valentine" design is actually a nice, small doily pattern...wasted, I'm afraid. This makes a beautiful tablecloth with the extensions and what daughter or granddaughter wouldn't be proud to display it and brag on the loving, knitting-type mother or grandmother that gave it to them. So proudly, I present this gorgeous heirloom wannabe and hope you'll love it as I do and aspire to knit one for yourself or a loved one.
This pattern is now available for download from patternfish.com for $8.00.
Purchasing from the blog with comment, pattern is available for $7.00. Just post and I'll send you an invoice via Paypal through my personal account. Mary
Don'tcha just love doilies? This one is called, "Egeblad" and this particular doily pattern is one I wrote and knitted with extensions. The original pattern is available free from Yarnover.net and the extensions are located on my Ravelry project page-http://www.ravelry.com/projects/mwhite/egeblad
This is another one done in a Rose "flavored" 3/2 100% Mercerized Cotton from Valley Yarns Valley Cotton collection. What wonderful people work at Yarn.com/WEBS! The attention to detail and your order are carefully packed and shipped with lightning speed.
My personal "Doily Revival" all started with me joining a KAL on Knittinghelp.com for the Hemlock Ring. I still haven't completed my Hemlock Ring because I wanted to make it large enough to be a tablecloth and the yarn I used was just not suitable to the original pattern or Jared's(Brooklyn Tweed website)modified version. I further extended Jared's extensions up to round 147. I knitted and completed the entire piece with TLC Cotton Plus and size 6(US) needles. After it was off the needles and ready to be blocked, I realized that it would never lay out entirely flat and with the cotton/acrylic blend, would always have those "hips". Now, anyone who's knitted the Hemlock Ring pattern knows EXACTLY what I mean by hips.
So, I am currently testing a modified version of the extended extension (what a mouthful), using the TLC Cotton Plus and will be posting progress and the end results as it is completed. I feel sure that anyone that loves cottons, blends, acrylics and other unstretchable fibers will appreciate my perseverance and quest to make this pattern more user friendly and open more fiber choice doors.
