@rollinge Chiaogoo interchangeables have the lifeline hole too -
Love it!!!
Now that is a great tip and makes such sense as I think about it. That would be a problem for me because I use ring stitch markers… Oh well! A darning needle and thread it is for me then!
Not familiar with all needles you have mentioned, but another thought might be to try bamboo or wooden needles so the yarn doesn’t slip around the needles so easily?
If you give it a go and have success then you will have accomplished a real work of art! I say go for it and see what happens…and post your work here! You’ll get LOTS of encouragement!
Thanks Ruby, I forgot to mention that. i find i can still use my ring markers, i just make sure i slip them off and then back on without catching the lifeline.
Rollinge, that of course makes sense too! Sort of stating the blindingly obvious, but some of us (aka me) :rolleyes: can use all the help we can get!
I use stitch markers sometimes but usually they get in the way and when I memorize the pattern, I get rid of them. They can make stitches uneven too being in between lacy yarn.
I admire those people who knit gorgeous lace. I have been working on some lace projects these past three years. I am so lace challenged! I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong for the longest time. Finally it came to me - I just don’t pay attention. It was such a relief to realize I was not crazy and the pattern was not wrong. I’m just a scatterbrain. On certain confusing rows I learned to count, recount, use stitch markers, etc.
@lcnrainbow My alpaca lace piece after washing still had uneven stitches. I didn’t block it. But I thought that using much smaller needles next twould help.
My other piece alpaca/wool blend came out O.K. The pic of it is included, right out of washer and dryer, no blocking. It is just a sample.
The alpaca piece, when I find it, I post it but I think I threw it away.
Here is one of my lacy knits. Actually this was my first lace.
I don’t know if anyone said this…I may have missed it. If you don’t already know how to read your knitting, start practicing. It makes it a lot easier to find your place if you set your knitting and pattern aside for a while. It also makes repairs easier and often faster than having to rip back to a lifeline. If you drop a stitch and it drops down 6 rows it’s great to be able to fix just that section rather than ripping many more rows back to your lifeline.
I also think being able to read your lace helps to avoid errors or catch them faster. It’s easier to see that you’re off by a stitch or two if you’re not blindly following a chart or reciting a line of the pattern, but looking at the previous rows to ensure the pattern is properly aligned.
Also, it can be really helpful to knit a swatch with a couple of repeats of your lace pattern. Don’t bind it off and you can use the swatch for practice fixing errors or repairing dropped stitches.
Use two lifelines. Run the second one, then remove the first one. It is perfectly possible to drop a stitch after you have removed the only lifeline and not re-inserted it yet :eek:. Ask me how I know; no, actually, please don’t - the trauma, the trauma!!
Ha…I know just enough to be dangerous 
I tried a life line a couple of times. But I found it easier to just fix my mistakes as I go. If knitting near cats, dogs, or children, I would want a lifeline!
That is beautiful!
Ok lace experts out there, I have a question. I am starting a new shawl and the pattern calls for slip stitches at the beginning and end of each RS row. Ok fine. HOWEVER, the chart tells me at the beginning of the row to slip as if to purl w yarn in back…but the next stitch is a purl stitch, and I can’t figure out how I’m supposed to get the yarn in position for the purl stitch without a weird wrap that adds a stitch… At the end of the RS rows supposed to slip as if to purl w yarn in back and not sure how I’m supposed to wrap. Thanks for any help!
The position of the yarn for the slipping maneuver has nothing to do with what kind of stitch you’ll make on the next stitch. Some people think that if you slip purlwise, that means you should have the yarn in front, since you’re doing a purl-like maneuver. So your pattern is just telling you where to have the yarn for the slipping itself, then, depending on what the first worked stitch in the row is (it might be a knit or a purl), you naturally must put the yarn in the proper place to work that stitch.
You did a beautiful job on your first lace project, congrats! I would also suggest you try blocking to see if that will provide the look you want in your other garment.
I did read somewhere that continental knitters tend to knit a bit more loosely, and since I’m a continental knitter and seem to be a loose knitter, I have to agree! But that’s an interesting fact about the stitches being tighter closer to the tips of the needles. I’ve been trying to do that lately just to help improve my knitting speed and I’m thinking it makes for more even stitching and maybe even a bit tighter. I use AddiClick metal needles for most of my knitting, so I’m not sure if that makes a difference in how loose I knit or not–I seldom ever use wooden needles anymore. But I almost always have to go down a size or 2 as well.
Oh man, that was a lifesaver for me when I learned that! I did the tealeaf sweater KAL with Bristol Ivy and I used those things religiously, esp. on the lacy part of the sweater! It really helped find my messed up areas when a row didn’t come out right.
This book is chock full of amazing information–thanks so much for sharing it! I’ve downloaded it on my computer and look forward to using it to learn about lace knitting.