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Posted by: SuperUser Account 4/4/2007
I'm about to start a really cute lace knit sweater pattern.  Any tips?

Lace is about breathing, counting and patience.  Like any project, you want to make the gauge swatch before starting the sweater.  Double check the instructions as to whether the swatch is in one lace pattern, two lace patterns, or the gauge is over stockinette. lacelifeline2.jpg


If the gauge is over stockinette, take some extra time to work a few repeats of the lace pattern on your swatch.  Think of it as warming-up.  You want to practice the full repeat a couple of times to understand how it takes shape, so when you are working on the actual garment you can really relax into the pattern.  You want to make sure your YO's are consistently formed on the full shaft of the needle, not on the tip, which will make them vary in size.  Double check your decreases as well.  K2tog leans to the right; SSK, K2tbl and SKP lean to the left.  In a lace pattern the leaning decreases direct the shape of the fabric.  Make sure everything is leaning the correct way.  Test whether stitch markers at the repeats help you see the pattern better.  

And breathe.  Stopping and starting is natural when you are working an unfamiliar pattern, but flow makes the work even and pretty.  Relax and let the needle tips do the work.  Don't try to memorize the pattern.  Work the repeats and let your fingers learn the pattern.  And breathe.

If you are too worried about dropping stitches or making mistakes to relax and breathe, try the "safety net".  Use a big eyed yarn needle to run a smooth yarn or dental floss through all the stitches on the knitting needle and tie the ends of the yarn or floss together so stitches can't slide off the yarn.  Then resume knitting as usual.  If you drop a stitch, or something goes horribly wrong you can feed your knitting needle back through that row following the yarn or floss and recovering your stitches without much fuss.  Then just rip until the yarn stops.  If the pattern is complicated run the net at the beginning of every row repeat or every ten rows, whatever what works for you.  Even if the pattern isn't very complicated, summer traveling with the knitting sometimes makes it a good idea.  If any lost stitches will indeed remain in Idaho you might want to run one or two lines of safety net before you pack your knitting.lacelifeline.jpg

Check the pattern for notes like "While working shaping in lace pats, make sure there are equal numbers of incs and decs.  If not, work sts as they appear."  This can be the beginning of counting issues.  To maintain your stitch count from row to row, for every increase in the row you have to have a decrease.  If you add a stitch, subtract one somewhere.  The exception to this rule is when you are shaping.  Sleeves are narrow at the cuff and wider at the bicep.  Patterns will ask you to increase 1st at each end of the row every say 6th row, 12 times.  On increase rows you will have increases without matching decreases.  This is a situation to use stitch markers to remind yourself where the original stitches are so they remain centered at the front of the sleeve and help you plan the next few rows.  If you don't have enough new stitches to start a whole new pattern repeat, you might be able to work the edge of the pattern.  If not "work as they appear," which is to say knit the knits and purl the purls.
 —submitted by Sharon Kelly, Arcadia Knitting (IL)
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