The Weekly Swatch: Staggered Eyelets

 

Catching up with the posting of the weekly swatches today, next up is my swatch featuring simple staggered eyelets. It's worked over eight rows on a multiple of four plus three stitches, with the lace in- and decreases on rows three and seven.  

The Weekly Swatch: Chevron and Feather Knit Stitch

 

A variation of the classic Feather Knit Stitch, the Feather and Chevron Knit Stitch is simple, yet impactful, as it creates a beautiful scalloped edge. This stitch can be memorised without problem. The stitch motif is created over two rows and the wrong side rows are purled throughout. 

The Weekly Swatch: Arrowhead Lace Knit Stitch

 

Arrowhead Lace Knit Stitch

The Arrowhead Lace Knit Stitch is a dainty lace knit stitch that results in vertical, arrow-shaped columns of lace, ideal for rectangular garments. It's knitted over four rows on a multiple of 10 plus 1 stitches. All the wrong side rows are purled throughout.

The Weekly Swatch: Hourglass Eyelets

 

This week's swatch is the hourglass eyelet knitstitch, and whilst preparing my swatch sample, the stitch reminded me indeed of ladies' hips. 

It's a simple stitch pattern and the texture of the stitch motif is achieved through a combination of knit and purl stitches as well as standard in- and decreases. The stitch is worked over 8 rows on a multiple of 6 plus 1 stitches. 

The Weekly Swatch: Ridged Feather Knit Stitch

A variation of the Feather and Fan knit stitch, the Ridged Feather Knit Stitch is another classic and simple lace knit stitch. This stitch motif consists of four rows and the lace in- and decreases are worked on the third row. The remaining rows are knitted and purled throughout. 

The Weekly Swatch: Crest of the Wave Knit Stitch

Another classic lace knit stitch, this week's weekly swatch showcases the Crest of the Wave knit stitch. This lace stitch motif is worked over a total of 12 rows; and the lace in- and decreases are worked on rows 5, 7, 9 and 11 only. The remainder of rows are either knitted or purled throughout. 

The Weekly Swatch: Trinity Knit Stitch

 

Trinity Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Chevron Garter Lace Knit Stitch

Chevron Garter Lace Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Snowball Knit Stitch

 

Snowball Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Mermaid Tail / Fishtail Lace Knit Stitch

 

Fishtail / Mermaid Tail Lace Knit Stitch

Virga Choker (beaded version) - Free Lace Choker Knitting Pattern

 - These are the pattern instructions for the beaded version of the Virga Choker, the pattern for the Virga Choker without beads is available here. - 

Virga Lace Choker Free Knitting Pattern (beaded version) 

As an in-between project I finished another choker. I was inspired to design this choker when looking at in-progress project photos of my Virga shawl, an upcoming pattern for a semi-circular lace shawl, which will be published on the blog shortly. When I took the photos of the shawl, the dressmaker's dummy still had my Cascade choker wrapped around the neck and I got the idea to make a choker in the same lace motif as the Virga shawl. 

The result of this endeavour is my Virga Choker.

Virga Choker - Free Lace Choker Knitting Pattern

As an in-between project I finished another lace choker, the Virga Choker, and my free pattern is available below.

Virga - Knitted Lace Choker

I was inspired to knit a choker in this lace pattern when looking at in-progress project photos of my Virga shawl (pictured below, more information here), an upcoming pattern for a semi-circular lace shawl, which will be published on the blog soon.

Virga Lace Shawl (in progress, before blocking) 

When I took the photos of the shawl, the dressmaker's dummy still had my Cascade choker wrapped around the neck and I got the idea to make a choker in the same lace pattern as the Virga shawl. 

The result of this endeavour is my Virga choker.

The Weekly Swatch: Ostrich Plume Lace Knit Stitch

 

Introducing the Virga Shawl

New Knitting Pattern: The Virga Lace Shawl

Despite having completed work on a number of new patterns in recent weeks and months, I have not updated the blog with them. 

This is about to change and I decided to make a start today by posting a few images of my new shawl pattern, the Virga shawl.

Whilst the first test knit of the pattern is now complete, the shawl still requires blocking as well as a minimal amount of finishing; and I need to get to grips with my pattern notes before combining them into a usable pattern.

The Weekly Swatch: Vine Lace Knit Stitch

 

The Weekly Swatch: Chevron Rib Knit Stitch

Chevron Rib Lace Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Knotted Box Knit Stitch

Knotted Boxes Textured Knit Stitch

Free Knitting Pattern: Cascade Lace Choker

I’m finally catching up with the pattern posting of my latest knitted lace choker, the Cascade Choker. Just like my earlier lace choker knitting patterns (the Nameless and the Brocade Choker), this is a quick and uncomplicated lace project, ideal for using up tiny amounts of yarn. The choker can be completed in a day or two, including the time it requires to block the finished piece. (And if you decide to knit this choker, blocking is not optional, but absolutely essential to open up the lace.) The simple lace motif is knitted over 6 rows, consisting of knit and purl stitches and a variety of standard in-and decreases. 

Cascade Lace Choker

For this project I used just 5g of Scheepjes Maxi Sugar Rush mercerised cotton yarn and 2mm double-pointed needles (dpns). Though it is possible to knit the choker on wood or bamboo needles, I recommend the use of pointy, metallic dpns, especially if you are opting for the use of mercerised cotton yarn with this pattern. This will make the knitting experience much more enjoyable. 

The length of the choker can be adjusted easily for different neck circumferences and I recommend you check the fit whilst knitting. Altogether, you should ensure that the body of the choker covers around 80% of the neck before the piece is blocked. The choker is secured with the help of two dainty i-cords, which each measure approximately 20cm in length. These will be tied to a bow. Beads can be attached to the ends of the i-cords for a more sophisticated finish. 

Cascade Lace Knit Choker

The completed piece should be wet-blocked (to open the lace detail) and left to dry over night. 

If you decide to substitute the mercerised cotton with another type of yarn, the number of lace repeats will obviously differ. As you can check the fit whilst knitting, this should not be a major issue, making this project ideally suited to using up all types of yarn leftovers.

!!Update!!

The pattern for the one-piece i-cord version of the Cascade Choker (picture below) is now available here.

The Weekly Swatch: Scale Lace Knit Stitch

Scale Lace Knit Stitch

I have been neglecting my weekly swatch activity at the onset of 2020 and, counting from the beginning of January, I didn't post any swatches for over four months. I am now trying to catch-up with my (not so) weekly swatch posts and in an attempt to rectify this situation, I have  prepared another lace stitch for this week: the Scale Lace Knit Stitch. 

This is another easy lace stitch and the finished swatch, which is knitted with Rowan Bamboo Soft, suggests that this could be the perfect stitch motif for a drapey cowl or a wide stole. 

The Weekly Swatch: Feather and Fan Lace Knit Stitch

Feather and Fan Lace Knit Stitch 

After knitting up a few swatches in Scallop Lace Knit Stitch for last week's Weekly Swatch, it felt fitting to follow-up with another classic lace stitch: the Feather and Fan knit stitch. Somehow, I always think of these stitches as being related to one another, with the Feather and Fan Stitch building upon and extending the stitch motif of the Scallop Stitch.

Due to its simplicity, the Feather and Fan Stitch is suitable for yarns of differing weights, including bulkier varieties, as shown in the image below. For the smaller swatch I used Wendy Zena, an alpaca / wool blend with a recommended 4mm needle size. 

Feather and Fan Knit Stitch -