6 myths

I've been reading a lot of these lately and it's just put me in a debunking mood! So bear with me while I ramble on about 6 common lace knitting myths (you can see more about some of these along with pictures of swatches and all sorts of good stuff in my Craftsy class!).

Myth #1: There's no need to swatch because it doesn't matter how a shawl or scarf fits.
Wrong! You should always always swatch and block your lace patterns (this is called a "dressed" swatch), if only to see how you like the fabric you'll be producing with the needles and fiber you've chosen. Also, since lace never looks all that great before blocking, you'll be giving yourself a boost of knitting energy halfway through your project when your lace piece looks like something the cat dragged in. Just take a look at the loveliness of your blocked swatch and you'll feel reinvigorated!

Myth #2: If I go down a needle size my lace will tighten up and look better.
Eep! No! First off, see above. Second, there are some fibers (baby alpaca comes to mind) where no amount of going down in needle size will ever make your unblocked lace look like anything but cat barf. To get that gorgeous airy lacy look, you will need to use larger needles than you think and block the bejeezus out of it. Ever wonder why your lace looks so uneven when there are peeps out there who do open beautiful lace and their stitches Look. So. Perfect. Does it just make you want to scream (or whimper)? :psst:blocking:psst: So use those bigger needles, and if you don't believe me? Block it. :)

Myth #3: There's no need to block.
Wrong! Again, see above for starters. For lace especially, blocking is magic! But honestly, every time I get a certain online store catalog, I cringe looking through the projects. One or two of them might be blocked, but I can tell from the lumpy bumpiness (even in straight stockinette stitch) that most have never seen water. Your knits need to be wet all the way through and petted into shape. It makes them feel good. And when they feel good, they make you look amazing!

Myth #4: One square in a chart equals one stitch used.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt! Wrong! I could have twenty chart squares in a row and only use 5 stitches! (Multiple yarnovers anyone?) Conversely, I could have two chart squares in a row and use 10 stitches with a couple of handy k5tog symbols. So when you are counting to make sure you have enough stitches, count the number of stitches used and not the number of boxes in the chart row.

Myth #5: The repeat lines in a chart are for stitch marker placement.
Nope. Those are for marking repeats only. You can use them for marker placement (I do!) if you keep this in mind: they may move around and you might have to borrow stitches from the next repeat from time to time (especially when there's a double decrease in that row). Or they might even move around from chart to chart within the same pattern. If your markers end up needing to be moved, this does not constitute an error in the pattern.

Myth #6: The black boxes labeled "no stitch" in the chart key are slipped stitches.
=8-0 Wrong-o. There is absolutely no stitch there. Nothing. Nada. Those "no stitch" symbols are there to keep the integrity of the chart so that you can see how your stitches line up in patterns where the stitch count changes row to row. Just ignore them. They aren't really there.

Do you have any pet myths that need debunking? Let me know! This was kinda fun. ;)

we have a winner!

I love giving away prizes. :) I particularly love it when I actually recognize the person who has won! It's just so much fun seeing someone you know randomly come up as the winner after also seeing them around on the Ravelry forum and in the club. I'm stalling, right? Suspense is so much fun, isn't it? No?

The winner is Victoria! And when I clicked on her profile, I saw that she is our own terraki from Ravelry! Congratulations Victoria! You have won a skein of Miss Babs Wild Silk in Roasted Pumpkin and the beads to do Fiori Autunnali!

Since I never had time to do this when I returned from shooting the Craftsy class, I'm just going to tell a little about my trip and sessions!

There's a lot of work that goes into the class to begin with, and we started months and months before my shoot date to put together the concept and outline. Stefanie had asked me to do an exclusive project as a basis for my class, and I knew right away that I wanted to do a V-shaped shawl in laceweight yarn, because that's the class request I most often get from knitters (because of Madroña). I wanted it to be a relatively simple knit otherwise, one that would flow off the needles. Fiori di Sole came to mind, as I have heard so many comment that it is much easier than it looks, and that the body pattern is simple to memorize and satisfying to knit. I proposed that I combine elements from those two shawls, Stefanie agreed, and Fiori Autunnali was born!

I set to work on an outline. From my experience teaching and from questions my moderators and I have gotten in my Ravelry forum, I then chose topics to be covered. To me, the most important thing was to let everyone know that anyone can knit lace, and that anyone can knit with laceweight yarn! I wanted to let you all know how I started to knit lace, and how - when I did my first project - I was absolutely clueless about so many things, but by the time I finished, I had so, so many new skills. I know that if I could do it, anyone can. And I wanted to share so many things that I have learned along my journey to where I am today: how different fibers react when knitted into lace, how beads look so different when knitted into a swatch, how lace knitted in laceweight yarn will look absolutely terrible before it's blocked.... And then the special bits of this project: how to begin in the round, how to separate into the V shape, how to keep track of charts, how to block your shawl. I had a pretty involved outline, when I spoke to Stefanie again on the phone. We talked about how to show the techniques, and I realized that I couldn't easily show it on a full sized shawl, so the doll-sized shawl was born and I got back to work!

Fast forward: the Thursday before I flew out to Denver, I had my nails done so they would look all pretty, gathered my clothes together, and looked over everything again to make sure I had all of my materials! My flight was Sunday midday, and I was feeling pretty good that morning until this happened:

It had to happen on Sunday, right? Yikes! Off we went to the airport, stopping along the way to get some nail polish in case nothing else could be done. When I got into Denver, I knew I wasn't in the west any longer.

Tornado Shelter? And you all worry about earthquakes? ;)

Craftsy sent a Towncar to pick me up from the airport and I got to the Magnolia Hotel at about 5:20. The first thing I did was ask about a nail salon! The concierge knew of one, called them, and let them know I was coming. It was only a few blocks away, and so I walked. They were so nice, and they fixed me right up! The stress faded a little at that point, and I grabbed a Jamba Juice on the way back and enjoyed the city evening as I walked back. I loved seeing the pianos along the way, and one of them was actually occupied!

In my room, I enjoyed the view while I tried really really hard to relax. Beautiful!

The next morning, the make-up artist picked us up (there were two other instructors) and we headed on over to the studio. As I was being fixed up pretty, Stefanie walked in and she was - and I kid you not - green. She went home, thankfully, because really. The poor thing was sick. So the crochet producer filled in and we got started! That first day, we set up, did two lessons, moved things around, and knocked off around 6.

Stefanie was back the next day and her usual sparkling and healthy self! Thanks be for 24 hour bugs not lasting any longer than 24 hours. We shot four lessons, and off I went to meet my dear friend Jeanne, who kindly waited for me! No pics here, as we are camera-averse. :)

The next morning we shot the very last lesson and all (the production team) went out for a terrific lunch right next door. The salmon - my litmus stick for any truly great restaurant - was delicious! Back we went to do all the extra shots, from which the editors would choose when putting it all together. It's way better to have too much than too little! Stefanie took this picture of me "doing the diva." Notice the flip-flops. It was hot in that studio!

Stefanie was catching up on her knitting.

We finished a little early and went to visit Fancy Tiger, the local yarn shop.

It's a beautifully curated shop, with a fabric section,

and their own line of wool.

We had coffee and then Stefanie headed back home to her poor sick baby girl (that 24 hour bug moved fast! and caught Stefanie's family) and I went back to my room to relax, have some Pho, and stare out the window at the smoke from all the surrounding fires.

The Towncar picked me up the next morning and whisked me back to the airport. And then this princess turned back into plain old Cinderella and headed back home to her kids and puppies.

It was a grand adventure. 

...and you can get 25% off the result with this linky. :)

give-away? give-away? why yes!

With the permission of the marvelous and talented Miss Babs, who provided yarn for Fiori Autunnali, I am giving away a skein of her gorgeous Wild Silk (100% tussah) in Roasted Pumpkin, the color used in the original shawl! Along with that skein of loveliness will go beads enough to complete the shawl. These are also the original beads used: size 6/0 Japanese seed beads in iris bronze (metallic).

This all goes along with my new Craftsy class, of course. :) And here again is the link to purchase that class for 25% off!

Here are the rules! Leave one comment here by midnight PDT, Saturday night July 27, 2013. Each comment will be an entry. If you would like to enter more than once, tweet, or post on facebook, plurk, or Ravelry (or other social media!) about the give-away and then post another comment here telling me what you did. If you tweet and facebook, for instance, that's two extra comments for two extra entries!

I will draw one winner from the list of comments, using random.org's random number generator. Ready? Set? Go!!!

it's here, it's here!

My Craftsy class (25% off through this link!) went live and I am super excited to be able to show you the shawl that I teach in the class! 

It was so difficult waiting to show you this shawl. It's a combination of two of my designs: Madroña for the shape, and Fiori di Sole for the body and edging stitch patterns. The V shaped Madroña is the shawl so many people ask me about teaching, and I know how much people love Fiori too, so I wanted to put something together that I knew you all would love! This one is called Fiori Autunnali and you can see more pics of it on Ravelry. It's made of Miss Babs' Wild Silk (tussah) and size 6/0 seed beads. There's a regular sized shawl

and also a doll sized shawl

which also works wonderfully as a human sized scarf!

I do hope you'll join me. :)

Here's my official verbiage for promotion:

Expand Your Lace Skills with a New Shawl Shape

Empower yourself as you bring a sophisticated and versatile shawl design to life. Join me, Romi Hill, for my online Craftsy class, New Directions in Lace, and create a breathtaking V-shaped shawl that will stop people in the streets! I've designed this class with you in mind, drawing on questions knitters have asked me about this particular shawl shape, lace weight yarns, beads, casting on in the round, blocking lace, and so many other little tips and tricks that you'll find yourself going back to the lessons over and over.

As you progress through my class, you’ll hone your lace skills be creating my exclusive Fiori Autunnali shawl pattern, included in the class materials. Inspired by delicate lace doilies, this lovely shawl features leaf patterns and beaded flower motifs. And if you like, you can start small with the doll-sized version of the shawl which is also included in the materials and shown in class.

As we begin, I’ll help you choose yarn and beads. I share tips for reading charts, using stitch markers, and adding lifelines. I’ll even guide you through starting your shawl with my version of the ingenious belly button cast on, developed by my friend Rosemarie Buchanan. The belly button allows you to start a project from the center with a minimum of fiddling, even when using lace weight yarn! Next, we’ll move on to join the working yarn to your cast on, and you’ll begin stitching. I'll show you how to remove your belly button, and easily close up the center into a neat and tidy start for your lovely project.

We'll go on to cover working charts in the round, three ways to place beads as you knit, and the no stitch symbol as used in my charts, and we’ll transition from working in the round to binding off two sections of the shawl so you can start working the two wings! And for the hook-a-phobic, I'll show you my favorite method of crocheting a chain bind off using knitting needles! The magic of blocking is next. We'll turn your project into a beautiful swan! I’ll take you step-by-step through blocking your shawl to its full size, exposing and preserving its true beauty and marvelous motifs. When you sign up for New Directions in Lace, you'll hone your skills while knitting an entrancing shawl that’s a wearable work of art.

Since 2005, I’ve been designing knitting patterns and shawl pins. But my fascination with lace dates back to my early childhood, and the incredible pieces my grandmother crocheted using a tiny hook and miniscule thread. When I was about four years old, my grandmother taught me crochet, but it was the art of knitting that always called to me.

After begging my mother to teach me how to knit for years, she finally relented when I was nine years old. I knit on and off throughout my entire life, and then the awe that my grandmother’s lace creations had inspired was reawakened, and I haven't stopped once since learning to knit lace. These days, I usually fall asleep at night thinking of lace patterns and how they fit together mathematically and artistically. I'm such a lace geek!

I hope you’ll join me for my new Craftsy class! Sign up for New Directions in Lace to create my exclusive Fiori Autunnali shawl design, and then apply what you’ve learned to knit other complex, captivating shawls. 

missing in action

I know. MIA again! This past week (well...and before too!) I've been working hard on my upcoming Craftsy class. I'm trying to think of everything before I go to my taping because I want to answer as many possible questions as I can! What's cool about the Craftsy platform is that even if I don't get everything answered in my class, you all can still ask in the forums! I am super excited about this. :)

Also? In a word: Petunia. (Please forgive the not-so-great iPhone pics!)

How much can one blog with this cuteness distraction?! We picked her up Tuesday. It was a 9 hour job: 4 and a half hours there and 4 and a half back. We started immediately after the boys left for school, and got back in time to pick them up after practice at the swim center. Petunia set immediately to work in the car making me a chew toy. (Yes, she is that tiny!)

Then she was tuckered out, rested her chin on the side of the car seat, and fell asleep. She slid down into the basket in another 5 minutes.

We got back and set up her bed and cage so she would feel at home.

Otto had ignored her in the car. Here he is giving me a "how could you do this to me?" look.

As soon as we got home though, Otto started playing with her and fell under her spell. So did Bear.

The next day, I built little stairs up to the outside dog door. It's an automatic one going into the garage and I thought I could teach her to use it pretty well. That worked, but she can't push in the non-automatic one that comes into the house, so I took the remote control collar off. I didn't want her wandering the garage where she could get stuck. But then, she felt the need to keep Otto from using the door as well. She took up residence in the door frame and almost nothing would move her!

It was a long day, and she was a tired baby. It's funny; I've never had dogs before that like to be under blankets, but both Otto and Petunia love to sleep under things all snuggled up.

Two Miniature Schnauzers. Life is good.