It's a 2-ply weaving yarn, at least according to the English translation of the Finnish website. However, it sure looks like laceweight to me. Now, I have knit lace before, but with fingering weight yarns, and that was fun. So I took this lovely stuff, and found this (ravelry link). It's a gorgeous lace shawl, and I have a mile of teal yarn. What could possibly go wrong?
Have you ever tried to cast on with laceweight? This stuff is thinner than my dental floss. It took me about 4 tries and three different kinds of needles to cast on 8 stitches, and join without twisting. The language was not teacher-appropriate, to say the least. I now understand why lace knitters want pointier needles, and I may have to buy some in the near future.
So I finally succeeded in the cast-on. Then, the set-up pattern. The first 18 rows went fine. But then some stitches slid off the needle, and I'm doomed. I'm doing this magic loop, and one half of the shawl now has 47 stitches, and the other 57. I have no idea what I did or how to correct it.
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| The shawl so far. About 3 hours worth of work. |
Oh, the pointy needles are SO worth it for lace. Save yourself the frustration and get them right away!
ReplyDeleteAnd stitch markers between every repeat section. Can't have too many stitch markers.
That's good to know about the pointy needles. Also, thanks for the stitch marker advice. It seems a little silly starting out with so few stitches per repeat, but the rows do grow fast . . .
ReplyDeleteI'm also going to start adding lifelines every 10 rows. That way I can rescue myself when I screw it up next time.
It definitely does get better, so do not through that laceweight away! Ellen is right, pointier needles make SUCH a difference, too -- well worth the investment. And yes, definitely stitch markers; I can't knit lace without them. I'd only add that it's probably worth starting out on dpns until you get the lace pattern established, before switching over to magic loop (or two circs, which is what I tend to use); it just takes an added element of complication out, which is always useful when getting your lace pattern established.
ReplyDeleteI am almost at the end of knitting a stole with some laceweight, so I can say that yes, it gets better. I think of it as my hands having to re-calibrate for the lighter weight.
ReplyDeleteI'm using Elegant Yarns Daphne, same weight as Jojoland Harmony (800 m/50gm).