Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

ShannonJ — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:19:12 GMT

I enjoy Kitchner stitch. I know I'm an oddball, but I do. I remember the rhythm by making it a kind of sing-song thingy:

Knit off, purl on, purl off, knit on, knit off, purl on, purl off, knit on, etc. etc.

Works every time! (Just remember that your next stitch will always be EXACTLY the opposite of the current stitch. If you're currently purling, your next stitch will be knit. If you're leaving the current stitch on the needle, the next stitch will come off the needle.) Easy and fun!

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

Janknit — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:18:23 GMT

I agree-- what is the big deal about Kitchener stitch? Knit, purl, purl, knit and at the end of the row, not only no seam, but ta da! --magic!. Kitchener is a slick little piece of magic. Why would you NOT want to do Kitchener stitch? Treefinder is right: all in the mind. Note to knitting powers that be: stop presenting this as scary. If you think it is easy, it is. If you think you can do it, you can. In knitting and everything else, for that matter.

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

geooben — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:49:52 GMT

Why doesn't anyone suggest knitting a few rows of waste yarn and then doing the kitchner stitch? Machine knitters have been using this technique for years. It enables you to see the stitches you need to graft and you won't lose them because they are held with the waste yarn. Once grafted you unravel the waste yarn and you have a seamless - no ridge - join.

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

MeganH — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:37:04 GMT

Grafting is a pain, but worth mastering. The clearest instructions I have yet seen (ie, the ones that worked for me) come from Country Bumpkin's "A-Z of Knitting" (it's an Australian publication) - step by step photos and good descriptions. It's like anything, it requires practice, but at least I suddenly knew what I doing.

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

DalanaE — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:23:07 GMT

What about Russian grafting?

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

JenniferP@3 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:32:15 GMT

Thanks for this pattern! My mom asked me to make her a "stole," and I've been looking at lots of patterns. We live in hot old Texas, so something light is called for. Also, she's a very stylish seventy-year-old and doesn't want to look like a granny (and I don't want to make something for her that she'll smile and praise and then put away forever.) This looks just right! Also it meets my criteria for a largish project: I must learn something new. I've never made knitted lace before, but I think I can do this. All the best, Jenni

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

AnnetteV@2 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:42:07 GMT

Good morning. This shawl is a "must do". Would it work using the crochet chain method with waste yarn, as used in your "Mariloise's Scarf" in the Fall 2001 issue of Interweave Knits, page 57? It should, given that Row 1 is plain knit and could be used to pick up the stitches at the middle of the shawl to start the pattern going in the opposite direction. I have made the "Mariloise's Scarf" several times for friends and acquaintances who have fought breast cancer, so it readily came to mind how it was constructed.

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

Antipod — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:28:48 GMT

I totally agree with what Tephra and BPurdy advised (use of waste yarn). I also do one more step: I take a wet piece of muslin or any other cotton/linen cloth and steam few final rows of my work (together with the waste yarn). This "sets" the yarn in position. Then I can very gently pull the waste yarn away and join 2 pieces of my work together. Stitches don't run. I often do garment shoulders this way, especially if the yarn is bulky.

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

Country Knitter — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:22:29 GMT

It would be wonderful if the actual pattern could be printed off without any advertising on it. I realize your site is for advertising, but it is a nuisance to see it when trying to read a pattern.

Elizabeth Harp

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

KarenT — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:48:00 GMT

I agree with the other commenters - what is so difficult about Kitchener stitch? It isn't really even a new "stitch"; it's just knits and purls, some of which are left on the needle for a moment. No one gets upset when directions say "knit front and back" into one stitch.

Thanks for the lovely shawl pattern though!

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

Tillie Cobb — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:46:42 GMT

Thank you for the lovely lace shawl. I look forward to making this.

Tillie Cobb

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

AnnG@3 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:57:43 GMT

Here's an alternative to weaving the center: make a v-shaped shawl. Knit the two halves as usual. Line them up next to each other and knit across both pieces, doing a double decrease where they meet. If you decrease on both sides, you'll get a gentle angle; decrease only on the right sides for a sharp angle.

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

KateMcI — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:41:22 GMT

Honestly, what exactly is so scary about Kitchener stitch? I only learned it a couple of years ago, and I'm so used to it now that I don't even need to say my "mantra" (knit, purl, purl, knit) when I do it.

There's a fantastic video tutorial available at KnittingHelp.com. If you watch it a couple of times, and then do it *with* the video a couple of times, it's dead easy!

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

BPurdy — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:59:41 GMT

My initial fear was loosing stitches and found that if I worked a couple of row in waste yarn, following the pattern - knit the knits, purl the purls - and then bound off the waste yarn. I would leave enough of the fashion yarn to do the actual grafting with (usually 3 to 4 times the width of the piece stretched). I would then take the fashion yarn and follow the first row of stitches, laying the fashion yarn over the waste yarn and alternating sides. The first stitch was in the opposite piece and then back to the orginating piece (the one with the long tail that I'm using to stitch with) and then to the opposite piece.

I know it sounds confusing, but the first row of the waste yarn gives you a roadmap of sorts to follow as you work through the stitches, it also makes it easier when you are switching between knits and purls.

re: Free Pattern: Lovely Lace Shawl (Plus More Lace Tips!)

Carol@6 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:36:54 GMT

Hi,

I''m sorry, I just don't get what the big deal is about Kitchener Stitch. I think that many people are put off thinking that there is some compelling need to memorize this technique in order to be called a "true" lmotter/ Let the truth set you free----no really smart person memorizes anything that is so easy to look up! Just get out your little index card and chant as you go---all will be fine.