Fourth Edition is taking part in the Knitting & Crocheting Blog Week, and you can read more about that blog project here.
I knit a lot of lace. One of my favourite projects ever was my Ceramium shawl (or "Glaminaria" has it was dubbed by friends), my version of the Laminaria shawl. The pattern was always interesting, just on the right side of challenging and extremely fun to knit.
I so wish I knew how to design intricate lace shawls because, my word, I enjoy knitting them. I do not aspire to Laminaria-esque heights (i.e. intricate Estonian stitches, modular stitch count, jaw-dropping beauty), but I have these ideas in my head about angular shapes growing into elaborate edgings. You see, I like my early 20th Century art and architecture (Cubism, Bauhaus, Art Deco) and would love to approach lace knitting using that sort of formalised, geometric "language".
Alas, I have no idea how to go about all this.
I have knitted a triangular shawl of my own design, Bruges, but mine was a very simple idea: I wanted to use a chunky wool and combine it with a fine edging. The yarn did most of the hard work for me as the chunky wool was self-striping (and I opened it up with a few k2tog, YO rows) and the fine wool, my beloved Kidsilk Haze, gave the edging a gorgeous halo.
I am sure there is a simple mathematical logic to lace shawl designs. I can knit a stocking stitch triangular shawl, but I am yet to suss out how to plug in those seductive lace patterns. Oh, how I wish I could just sit down and design one..
.. instead here are some of my favourite shawl patterns which I am yet to knit or which I simply just admire:
- Aeolian Shawl
- Andromeda Shawl
- Bitterroot Shawl
- Vernal Equinox Shawl Surprise
- Knitted Shawl in Alpaca
PS. I'd also really, really like to learn how to read a book and knit at the same time. I'm reading much less than pre-knitting-rediscovery and this bugs me.