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nwilson02
Chatty Knitter
USA
214 Posts |
 Posted - 09/13/2005 : 08:02:50 AM
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I'm just curious, as a fairly new lace knitter, what drives you to knit lace? I'm loving the challenges involved, there's no time to get bored (just frustrated). The pattern is constantly changing so you have to be aware of what you're doing and what's going on. The downside is that I tried going back to an easy pattern for another project and got bored. Horror.
I am interested, though, in what drives you "veteran" lace knitters. Any tidbits of wisdom for us knewbies?
Nancy |
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MMario
Permanent Resident
2202 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 08:11:18 AM
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Not sure if I count as a "veteran" - but I have always been drawn to the inticate patterns lace makes - and being able to create some...is a rush.
Some lace pieces can be just as boring as garter stitch - but the overall projects tend to be more "exciting" - or at least more impressive.
For me - watching the pattern grow out of the stitches is the ultimate reward.
MMario - I don't live in the 21st century - but I play a character who does. |
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GFTC
Permanent Resident
USA
6331 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 08:25:35 AM
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When it's finished I just keep looking at it, not believing that I actually made it with the same materials as could have made a garter stitch scarf. I also love the process, the committment and patience required, the finished product, and the attention the item always gets when worn.
GFTC of NYC |
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SurfinSandy
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
473 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 10:35:18 AM
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All of the above.
I like the challenge, the variety...it's far from boring (to do or to look at). I can't go back to garter stitch scarves again! No Way!
There are so many variations, lace patterns, just gotta try 'em all!
all of that and the end result is ALWAYS worth it! You transform plain ole yarn into some just spectacular! (Ok not all yarn is 'plain ole' but you know what I mean?)
I started knitting lace this year.
Surfin'Sandy
No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.
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abbierose
Seriously Hooked
USA
985 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 1:20:12 PM
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I'm a relatively new lace knitter, but I jumped in with both feet and will never turn back. It's hard to describe the weird thrill I get every time I cross off a row of a chart. All the counting is just relaxing. And I really dislike seaming anything. So socks and lace are all I'll knit nowadays. I keep buying yarn and starting sweaters, but then I get quickly bored with them, the thought of putting them together sends shivers up my spine, and I'm back to my complicated lace charts. It's knitting bliss for me. I just ordered a ton of cobweb weight lace for a shawl. Could take me the better part of a year to knit it, but I can't wait to get started!
Melissa
Tia Knits |
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letti
Chatty Knitter
USA
164 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 1:54:25 PM
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I remember my grandmother knitting lovely lace diaper shirts for her grandchildren; my sister knitting diaper shirts for her son; my aunt knitting them for her grandchildren, when I was a child growing up in the Caribbean. The intricate pattern, the counting, and the "don't move my knitting" was part of my knitting experience. This left me with a great love for knitting lace. I started lace knitting some 10 years and have never been bored with it.
I enjoy the challenge, the frustration and the reward. I always knit something simple after a difficult lace pattern.
Letti
"Anybody is liable to fall off a tightrope in any land, I thought, and God help you if you fall the wrong way."
Langston Hughes |
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Shalee
Permanent Resident
USA
2026 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 2:10:13 PM
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Like GFTC, I love the way it looks. I have to stop every few rows just to admire "my" work! I have a habit of changing the directions on most patterns, including my present project, and get such a kick out of how much better I think it looks, than the original! Lace is my soothing project. The beauty and comfort of lace just seems to float around me.
I also love cables, fair aisle and kniting in general so who knows, I guess I JUST LOVE KNITTING!
Sharon in NW PA
I always wanted my own library but I didn't realize it would be all knitting books!
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galleylama
Seriously Hooked
753 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 4:33:53 PM
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Knitting lace keeps me from being bored. Itmakes me work my mind and not become lazy!
It is easier to be forgiven than to receive permission. |
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janev
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
444 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 5:26:50 PM
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Any suggestions for a 'first time' lace project?
Jane
Jane
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
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truly violet
Permanent Resident
6397 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 5:33:42 PM
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I like lace, I like socks, I like cableing..... I like color knitting
lace is great cause it looks like a wrinkled heap and then you block it......
MAGIC!!!
it becomes......... something amazing.
hahahahaha
plus it is really the best thing to knit on a really tight budject......
one skein goes on forever..... 14.00 for 1300 yards......
and it takes a while to knit up....
so you have a blast for a while
vi
none of this will matter in 100 years.......except I will finally be at my goal weight...vi
http://notashyviolet.blogspot.com/
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Overthere
New Pal
USA
28 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 6:15:37 PM
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lol.I can't force myself to finish a garter scarf...too boring and unexciting. But lace? I HAVE to finish the repeat, and then one more. Well, maybe one more before I put it down...
I please myself when I can go without the pattern after doing it a couple of times.
I love the yardage and the fact that I'm literally knitting with thread.
A lot of people knit, but I think it's the minority that knit lace.
yo's and k2tog are my favorite stitches.
The project is so LIGHT, it's like knitting clouds. Or thoughts. Or dreams.
Diana
This, then that.
Yarn is good. |
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Maybird
Chatty Knitter
United Kingdom
155 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 02:39:48 AM
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| I am a perfectionist of the neurotic sort who won't do a thing if they don't think they can do it perfectly. As you can imagine, this has rather held me back in life. But I started knitting lace. And for some reason, with lace, I am prepared to spend hours and hours ripping out and redoing sections, trying things out, making mistakes and learning that the world does not fall on my head when I make a mistake and I can learn from it and set it right. It has been the most wonderful therapy. And at the end of it, I have beautiful things to impress people with! (me most of all!) |
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HellaHelen
Chatty Knitter
USA
344 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 09:08:35 AM
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Lace is an addiction for me. I love the challenge and the wonder of it all. I love that it is economical. I love that it impresses the pants off everyone (my inner show-off is showing!). And I love that I don't need to worry about gauge most of the time--what, the shawl's not going to fit?? And while I don't hate seaming as much as some, it doesn't hurt that most lace projects don't involve any sewing.
I'm usually a one-project-at-a-time gal, but I do like to have an easy project as a companion to my lace knitting--I need something to knit while I'm watching TV or reading, at which times simple stockinette, garter, or ribbing are in order.
Cheers,
Helen |
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Lace Lunatic
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
524 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 10:11:28 AM
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I would never have bothered to learn to knit had it not been for an obsession with lace. The creation of diaphanous, intricate and suprisingly warm fabric is, in and of itself, sufficient reason to get up in the morning. The necessary drudgeries of daily life slip gently into the background.
Suzanne |
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Wovenflame
Seriously Hooked
Canada
812 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 5:04:48 PM
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At first it was the challenge, then the constant changing variety, now it is the knowledge that the finished object is so light it floats on the barest puff of a breeze! I just finished the Peacock Feathers Shawl and I am IN LOVE with LACE! Several photos of the finished shawl are on the September 15 entry of my blog. Come by and visit me? 
-Marlene-
Come visit me at: http://wovenflame.blogspot.com/
"First is to shift the perception. If you learn to look at something differently, you will change it in an instant. The point of perception from which you view any situation determines your entire reality." - The Group |
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Busyhands
Permanent Resident
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 8:32:27 PM
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Vi, I look like a wrinkled heap, should we try blocking me? 
I knit lace because I love the balance it provides between the logical, pattern-loving part of me and the artistic, make-something-beautiful part of me. I love showing off. (Yes, the lace, silly, what did you think?) And I love that when I knit lace I feel a very strong historical connection to thousands of other women, knitting clouds and dreams to wrap themselves and their loved ones in and to bring a little beauty into an otherwise humdrum life.
Lin
"Wearing cheerful, multicolored hats is a public service, easy to perform, and of incalculable value." - Anna Zilboorg
[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y69/Busyhands/elisaintunnel.jpg[/IMG] |
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Marg in Mirror
Permanent Resident
Canada
3204 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 8:33:59 PM
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If you look carefully, you'll notice a great symmetry to most lace patterns. For me, lace knitting is an orderly, calming process -- very enjoyable!
-- Marg in Calgary
TLWKOTB
http://knitsonthebus.blogspot.com |
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mokey
Permanent Resident
15375 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 10:20:25 PM
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I knit it because I like the end result. I work with numbers all day, and lace knitting allows me to use numbes in a creative instead of fiscal manner.
I am always fascinated at how people with no education managed to create and remember such intricate and comlicated mathematical formulas as presented in traditional lace knitting.
"An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Martin Luther King Jr.
www.femiknits.blog-city.com |
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cnlknitr
New Pal
16 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 10:21:09 PM
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I'm not sure this is 'on topic' but it certainly brought this to mind. I’m wondering why I want to knit lace… I've knit lots of lace edgings but decided to plunge in, (what I thought was the shallow end of the pool,) and started a ‘pie are square’ shawl by EZ in a lace weight yarn size 9 needle. I had only a couple rows to go of boring garter stitch before starting the lace edging when my yarn caught on my zipper and I pulled out a 3 feet snag.  Yes, I could work it all back (maybe)…. But if every time it’s worn that risk is run…. Why bother with all those hours and hours of work??? I’m frogging.[:((]
And the next shawl I start will be with much smaller needles……… later.
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truly violet
Permanent Resident
6397 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2005 : 03:57:46 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Busyhands
Vi, I look like a wrinkled heap, should we try blocking me?
Lin
yes darlink.....
gimme the wires and we will stretch you all out to THERE......
of course then you will be thin....... from front to back but all spread out from side to side.......
hmmm
I assume this is a look you wanted?
vi
none of this will matter in 100 years.......except I will finally be at my goal weight...vi
http://notashyviolet.blogspot.com/
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Jane
SustaYning Member
USA
4299 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2005 : 05:09:32 AM
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I love to knit lace for many of the same reasons others have posted. The seductive symmetry, the mathematical beauty, the artistic beauty...
I'm not always looking for a lace "challenge" either. I'll never run out of lace patterns to try, and I'll never grow tired of the soothing act of knitting something as simple as feather and fan.
Jane
Blog: Not Plain Jane
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