Showing posts with label dragonwing arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dragonwing arts. Show all posts

Thursday, May 01, 2008

"I don't understand Lace Knitting"

Yep, my DH said to me last night that very thing..."I don't understand lace knitting." At the time I was fussing a bit about a stupid error I'd made in my Lace Ribbin "wrap". He went on to say that he thought it was "interesting" just why would you want to knit it? I laughed because I really have no idea why I find lace so fun, yes I said fun to knit. Maybe it's the fact you have to pay attention and keep focused on your knitting. Let's face it I do enjoy that piece of the puzzle because I'm a totally obsessed knitter. A project gets into my head and I cannot put it down until it's complete. The lace has been that way for me the last few months. First, it was Laura of Dragonwing Arts Summer Radiance Shawl that I completed in March, now it's the Lace Ribbon. My other projects are suffering from neglect.

There are a few other reasons. I love to watch how the simple act of a yo becomes this complicated looking twist in my current project. When I've messed up and dropped a yo I've tried to recreate the twist 2 rows down...does not look right, but is it oh so simple when you remember to just wrap a loop and on the next row knit or purl it.

Lace has taught me a few things along the way. The first is to use a life line if you don't want to pull your hair out with a major error full of lost yarnovers. I've become much better at both "reading my knitting" and using charts to knit. When I first starting knitting I figured no way would I be able to read a knitting chart...too complicated looking, symbols to remember, etc. Now I adore using charts vs written instructions. I now prefer the charts, but will read through the written directions for anything that may not be clear on the charts. Why do some designers use a chart, but write extra instructions buried in the written? Drives me crazy...then I am a bit.