I recently finished knitting this lace scarf using Louisa Harding’s Simonetta yarn.  Simonetta is a pretty mohair yarn with a touch of glitter. The metallic yarn is twisted with the mohair causing the glitter to run intermittently throughout the length of the yarn.  The pattern is called the Cosimo scarf and is free to download as a PDF here.

The instructions give the yarn requirements to knit the scarf in either Louisa Harding’s Simonetta, Grace Hand Beaded or Nerissa.  I was tempted to do it in Grace Hand Beaded, but thought that the Simonetta would make the scarf feel more floaty and delicate and it only took 1 ball.

The lace pattern is a 16 row repeat and although I had to concentrate on counting rows at first, I found that once I got into it, the pattern became quite easy.

Why not chose your favourite shade of Simonetta and have a go yourself!

Alternatively, browse the Simonetta pattern book by Louisa Harding on our website which features no less than 14 knitting patterns for tops, scarves, shawls, a hat and even a skirt!

Rowan Lace is an exquisitely feminine collection of 14 women’s designs, 7 garments and 7 accessories. Graceful and perfectly fragile, the collection includes both knit and crochet designs ranging from shawls, wraps and scarves.

All patterns using Rowan Fine Lace yarn, a luxurious lace weight yarn launched for this season.  It is a blend of the softest suri alpaca and merino wool and pretty good value for a lace yarn at just £7.50 a ball which measures 400m.

Why not pick up a copy of the book and be inspired!

Alison Crowther-Smith, the author of Little Luxury Knits, has just published a second book devoted to knitting with Rowan Kidsilk yarns, called Lacy Knits.

Alison says: “When I designed the projects for Little Luxury Knits, the basic principles were to keep it fairly simple in order to introduce knitters to the beauty of the yarn… These principles still apply to this new book, plus lace!”

The 21 delightful lace knits in this collection take you from the simplest projects, such as a glowing two-tone lacy scarf to more challenging items, like an exquisitely fine traditional circular shawl.  Alison also combines the kidsilk yarns with other yarns to create texture, embellishments and little bit of sparkle!

She has also thought to include some tips and advice about knitting lace and knitting with Kidsilk Haze.

A lovely book to have on your shelf, even if you don’t knit anything from it!

If you enjoy lace knitting then you’ll know how important it is to block the knitting so that you can open up all the eyelets and show off the pattern you’ve created.

Traditionally, you’d soak the lace in water, then pin in out on a blocking board (or I know that some people use their spare bed) to the correct size, where you leave it to dry  This method can use dozens, if not hundreds, of pins, and can be a bit tiresome if you’re doing a large piece.

An alternative method is to use blocking wires.  You thread a wire through the edge loops of the piece and use just a few pins to secure the wires to the blocking board at the right size.  It’s much quicker and easier.

Getting hold of lace blocking wires in the UK isn’t easy though, so you may be pleased to know that we are now stocking Lace Blocking Wire Kits.  Each kit contains wires, t-pins and a measuring stick, plus instructions on how to use them.  There are two kits – a standard lace blocking kit for £19.95 and a deluxe lace blocking kit which contains more wires and pins for £29.95.

Lace blocking wires kit (deluxe)

This step-by-step tutorial from KnittingDaily.com explains more about how to use lace blocking wires.

Blocking a lace shawl. Photo from KnittingDaily.com

Fyberspates is a yarn company in Wales specialising in hand dyed yarns and fibers for spinning and felting. The founder, Jeni Brown, loves all sort of fiber-crafts and believes that knitting, spinning and felting are good for the soul!  We couldn’t agree more which is why we’re delighted to announce that we are now stocking some of her lace weight yarns.

Fyberspates carefully source all of their yarns, and they have personally visited nearly all the places that Fyberspates yarns have been manufactured. They buy yarn from the UK, Peru, Italy, Spain and the USA. These manufacturers have very high standards of production, and have good working standards for their employees, which is something highly valued by the company.

Browse our selection Fyberspates yarn.  We’d love to hear your thoughts on these lace yarns and would love to carry more Fyberspates yarn if you want us to.