The better to hear my knitting needles. Even better to learn new knit stitches or purl stitches or cable stitches or lace stitches.
As I write this , let me tell you something about a Pennsylvania spring. Leaves are just popping out on the earliest bloomers; dogwoods are going from lacy white to green, daffodils and tulips are at their prettiest. The grass has deepened into a muted, summer color; while driving over the mountain (elev. 1254 ft.) just outside of Port Jervis, NY on I-84, the foothills and far away places have a softness that a month ago was absent from the earth. Pretty lavender azaleas and deep purple-tinted trees rise over the open fields and farmlands which stretch out along my ride. Black and white cows lounge lazily in their big brown farmyard, some standing doing nothing, others sitting doing nothing.
The Delaware River has, at last, shrunk back between its banks; two weeks ago after 8" of rain in a day it resembled a watery behemoth. Early mornings find gauzy fog, ethereal and wispy, settled into every nook and cranny. I can still see my breath while fueling up the car (an outrage - this $3.00/gal gas) yet, the air is no longer cold. Only balmy.
Spring is delicate. Luscious and lacy, sylvan and cob-webby. A lot like lace knitting.
Lace knitting is just a combination of certain, same stitches which when worked in a pattern, row by row, create the most beautiful creations! One such stitch is the Yarn-Over.
Now, you can achieve these lovely holes by just dropping stitches all over the place, but that will definitely give your knitting a decidedly tacky look and I don't think that's what you're going for.....instead, do what I do.
Learn the stitches. Nothing could be easier. Learn those little "yo's" for knit stitches and purl stitches, for there are different ways of doing them. It's just another facet of how to knit. Remember, yo's always look loose on your needle and the tendency, at first, is to let them fall off, because they don't look like real knit stitches. But, they're as real as the rest of them, so treat them accordingly, and knit or purl them as your pattern row tells you.
Whenever you do lace knitting there are specific knit stitches you will always use, and "k2tog" (knit 2 together) is another. This creates one stitch where once there were two, by, knitting two stitches together. Couldn't be easier! And, let's not forget SK2P. Looks complicated, doesn't it? It's not. Here's all you do: slip 1 stitch, knit 2 tog, pass slip stitch over the knit 2 tog. Now, 2 stitches have been decreased.
For a lot more information on knit stitches, just visit my website at The Knit Stitch to purchase my ebook, where all of this, and more, is made easy for you!
So, until next time, I think I'm getting another cup of tea -- and my knitting! Ah, heaven!
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