Knitting with Lace Weight Yarn and Having the Right Needles

I began knitting another lace shawl. This is the lovely Haruni by Emily Ross. This is one of the first lace patterns that I fell in love with, but have put it off as I thought it was too hard. I even posted about the yarn I bought to do this project over 6 months ago. However, things change and I am doing this project with a completely different yarn than planned. I decided to use the Cascade Alpaca Lace in Garnet that I bought on a lark a couple of months later.

This yarn is 100% baby alpaca and is the finest yarn that I have ever tried to knit. This was the crux of my problem. Through knitting about 32 rows, I was repeatedly tinking back to redo stitches that I picked up under the row beneath that which I was knitting. This error basically un-knits the stitch and creates a slip stitch of the row beneath and a long loose yarn over in the same place. Of course, if not caught, the pattern is  ruined. I was also struggling with trying to SSK (slip slip knit) -- my Addi Turbos just did not have enough of a point.

I had "graduated" myself to Addi Turbos over a year ago when I got a great recommendation from my knitting sister who convinced me to try them. I have been a rabid convert ever since. Today, I am trying the Addi Turbo Lace. So far this has turned out to be a good decision. I have knitted only a couple of additional rows and it has made a huge difference. SSK's are much easier and I am not slipping under the stitch.

In the picture on the left, I think you can see that the points on the Addi Turbo Lace (the gold needle) has a longer and sharper point than the regular Addi Turbos have. In addition, the Addi Turbo Lace needles seem to be slightly less slick than the regular Turbos. This might be a benefit as the only drawback to the Addi Turbos have been that they are almost too slick for lace. It is true that the right tool for the job makes all the difference.

As long as I am talking about the baby alpaca yarn being the finest that I have ever knit, I thought I would give you a visual on different yarn weights.  Here is a graduation of different yarn weight of yarn that I have in my stash. On the left is the lace weight yarn in question, Cascade Alpaca Lace. It is followed by a fingering weight yarn, sock weight, sport weight, DK (double knit) weight, worsted weight and bulky weight. Of course all of these yarns are different manufacturers and fibers, but I think that you can see the differences between most. Prior to the Cascade Alpaca Lace, the finest lace I had used was the fingering weight yarn which I used for my Alexandra Gold.

Well, I have some knitting to get through, so I will sign off. Happy Knitting!

Ta Da! Finished!

I am quite happy with the way this one turned out! Is there a couple of things that I might change if I did same pattern again? Yes. But this is definitely a sweater that I will wear on a regular basis, and not just when I am lounging around the house. I will be wearing this to the office tomorrow!

Summary:

Pattern is Textured-Stitch Sweater Vest by Carol Covington in the book Vogue Knitting: Very Easy Knits ©1999 Butterwick Pattern Company.

Yarn is Paton's Classic Wool in Dark Grey Heather and Plum Heather 100% wool.

Knitted using Addi Turbo 60" circulars in US7 and US5 and I used a loose long tail cast on.

I knitted both the front and the back simultaneously which helped in getting the stripes even and the reduction for the armholes at the same place. This did make things a little confusing at times after I had started the V-neck since I had three balls of yarn going at the same time.

Having never done a vest with 1 X 1 ribbing on the arm openings, I ended up knitting the first one, trying it on and realizing that I Put in too many stitches as the ribbing stood straight out from the body of the sweater. Oh well, practice makes perfect! I knitted the second set with half the number of stitches at the top and the bottom of the arm hole and I think it turned out well.

If I had the ability to change anything, it would be knitting the rib at the bottom a little tighter as I did the neckline and arm holes. But I am not unhappy enough to do it over.

Best think is, I love the way the main sweater color highlights my hair!

Happy Knitting!

I succumb to temptation.

I tried. I really did. I managed to hold off over 24 hours. But in the end, the lure of my LYS (local yarn shop) was just too much to handle. But look at what I found!!! Look at the colors!!!! Yummy.

I am going to make a pair of tube socks in this beautiful self-striping Noro Kureyon. Yes, I know it is hand wash only, but oh so beautiful in this Lime, Hot Pink and Orange combination.

I also bought a 40" US 6 circular Addi Turbo to knit them up at the same time to prevent 2nd sock syndrome. My twin sister says she knits faster with them. I mentioned this to the girl at the LYS and she said that she found that it really makes the knitting fly.

Wish me luck.

And, no, I haven't finished any of my other projects yet. Shhhhhhh - quiet.

Sister Sock II

My twin sister finished her socks and sent me a picture of them on her feet. If you remember from my previous post, she had completed one sock and left it behind at a friend's house. As you can see, her socks are both finished and reunited. They are very plain tube stocks with a rib at the top in a worsted weight yarn.

But her knitting did not end there. She has since knitted two more pairs of socks that will be gifts. This speed must be due to her new Addi Turbo knitting needles! The next pair she knit was a basic tube sock with an "afterthought" heel. For those of you that are unfamiliar with an afterthought heel, follow the link to a wonderful little site full of tips and tricks -- Socknitters. Here Jill L Schaefer has a lesson complete with detailed photos on completing an afterthought heel.

Her third pair was a "flap and gusset" style heel. I happen to like these socks best, mostly because something inside me loves the look of stripped yarn for socks and my favorite color is green. Again, here is a nice list of tips and tricks for sock gussets from Socknitters.

Now, suddenly, I feel a need to run to my LYS and pick up some self striping yarn to make myself a pair of socks. Easy, Ledra, you have 3 quilts to make in short order.