Mystic Waters

WHAT IS IT? IS IT A DOILY? LACE UNDERWEAR?

NO! It's Mystic Waters!

Lace knitting and wraps may be making a fashion comeback, however, there's clearly more work to be done!! Yes, three separate people asked the above questions. Hmm....who wears lace wool underwear?

Well, I'm proud to say that Clue #2 is done! The pattern is not a repeating one, and carefully reading the chart is really important. Knitting is going smoother now, with less frogging, as my chart reading has improved. In addition to the magnet under the current row, I'm also using a magnet to highlight the cell I'm on, and moving it along every series of stitches. Lace knitting....challenging.....and fun?

Lessons in Lace

Lace knitting really is different and a challenge. For one thing, "holes" in the knitting are part of the pattern, and not a mistake to be fixed. Some tips which have helped me in kniting lace and working from the chart:

1. Place a stitch marker just before the center stitch, and also where one chart ends. The Mystic Waters shawl is large enough that it spans three charts wide.

2. Use a metal cookie sheet and a long strip magnet to mark the current row. Place a check mark next to each completed row.

3. Count the stitches after each completed row (every 2 rows in Mystic Waters) to make sure that the stitch count is correct. If the count is off, there is a mistake somewhere. I also mark the stitch count on the side of each row on the chart. Mystic Waters is a triangular shawl which increases 1 stitch on each right hand side row.

Despite these tips gleaned from the KAL, I'm finding that this shawl has been slow going and there's been quite a bit of frogging. Still, I've finished Clue 1! Perhaps it would have been wiser to begin lace knitting with a smaller project...........

Mystic Waters

Mystic Waters, a lace shawl KAL, will be my first lace project. There has been much indecision and angst in choosing:

• yarn (color and weight)


• size of needle

After much frogging (much needed practice!) and trying out different needles and yarns, I finally settled on a red variegated laceweight yarn from handpaintedyarns.com, and a size 4 needle. Much of the indecision was due to not really understanding how the lace should look. For example, how open should the project be? Does it look better when it's tighter or more open? Here's the first 78 rows:

Finished Projects

I've been spending some time on ravelry, posting some previous and current projects, and also inputting some yarn, not to mention browsing to see what fellow knitters are working on. It will take some time to record the yarn that I currently have, but it will be worth it.

Christmas is fast approaching, and the list is getting a bit shorter as some of the socks are completed. Mark's brown (Sockamania Elegance) socks are finished, and Megan's snowflake socks are done. For some reason, I put this project aside for 1 1/2 months with one repeat of the pattern and the toe to go. At least it's finished now!

The MAN socks left will be a bit troublesome to complete, as all of the rest of the receipients like a SIMPLE pattern (knit and purl, nothing fancy), and I'd like to work some sort of pattern. Perhaps a compromise? Maybe something in Sensational Socks will work?

Meanwhile, I'm a bit stalled on the Mystic Waters KAL. A choice of yarn has been made, and I'm waiting for some needles. If I spend too much time on the knit along, the remaining Christmas socks won't be done.