Originally written in Spanish.
Lace knitting is a delicate technique that plays with yarn overs and decreases to create stunning, lightweight fabrics. Like graphic design and photography, lace uses negative and positive spaces — i.e., stitches and holes — to create a beautiful motif that can be seen in all its splendor.
When people who don't knit see lace work, the first impression is: “How beautiful!” and the second one is, “It must be very difficult!” Although all lace knitting requires patience and attention to detail, there are different levels of complexity. But as soon as you understand the charts and the pattern repeats, everything makes sense and becomes easier.
Simple lacework maintains the number of stitches and has a clear repetition. If you decrease a stitch, you must increase one to compensate for that stitch. The increases are made with yarn overs knitted on the wrong side rows, forming little holes.
Vogue Knitting's lace knitting book
“Lace: 40 Bold & Delicate Knits” by Vogue Knitting is a book for beginners and experts. Vogue Knitting is an institution and a benchmark in the world of knitting. Its magazine began to be published in 1932 and has offered patterns of all kinds for decades. Taking advantage of this incredible experience, the magazine editors released a special book compiling designs that are worked with this technique.
The book has patterns for all levels, from simple pieces to complex ones. In these projects, the increases and decreases create visual motifs and shape the garments.
The Lace Coat by Brooke Nico is the pattern that has been favorited the most on Ravelry. It’s a delicate coat with a waistband and scalloped hem. It’s an ideal garment to wear over a dress.
The Lace Beret by Kate Gagnon Osborn is a perfect one-skein project. On Ravelry, you can see a multitude of projects that are made from this pattern.
The book has patterns for shawls, cardigans, sweaters, and socks. You can practice with easier pieces and then choose a complex one to show off your abilities. Lace garments are delicate and leave no one indifferent.
Comments