1) choose a spongy yarn, it will give the garment a good feel against the skin. (i sometimes use Mountain Colors yarn because it is fairly consistent.
2) watch your tension, the purl rows can be tighter than knit rows so you can pucker stitches, leading to inconsistencies in leaning stitches especially. remember lace “breathes” so it will need to be elastic in order to block beautifully.
3) use sharp tips to twist the yarn as little as possible.
4) thread salvage rows every once in a while so if you need to rip back you wont disturb other rows by repairing dropped stitches, pick up first with a smaller needle and transfer them to a larger one to prevent puckering.
5) choose a lighter color so you can see your stitches in full glory.
6) buy at least 25% more material than you need. discontinued and bargain yarns can be bought in bulk! it saves you from having to find another ball.
7) a tip from Jane Sowerby, Choose a Yarn that is a little bit nicer than what you use and a pattern that is a little beneath you for your first project.
8) Swatch, Swatch, SWATCH!!! you dont know how some more finicky stitches will react. And you can work out complex stitches and motifs without wearing out your material. (this is good for lace pieces in the round, or with borders that you add after you knit the piece).
9) Take a lesson from sock making and study the cast-ons and bind-offs for stretchy socks. they might look a little frilly on the finished work but give it a wonderful edge when blocked (remember, lace is supposed to be stretched out, thats why a gauge isn’t often included in the pattern)
10) if you are adventurous, choose a harder pattern, but make sure it is one that is tried and tested. If a lot of people have done it, you can see more ideas for the material, size, blocking method, and even some changes and additions people make to the pattern. Ask questions of the people who made the piece and enjoy the process. Some lace knitters have patterns that focus on a similar design elements so you can see different variations on the same theme.
I knit a lot of lace for my clients every year, so i know a few things. i also do one major summer project in order to hone my skills and i hope to enter competitions with them soon!
It was suggested that i publish this here, this is a post i wrote in a Ravelry Message board that people really enjoyed reading!
