Lace

Turning a grid into a lace chart can be very satisfying, but is also a bit more complicated. I’m going to present an introduction here, but not go into details, as this could involve a full article by itself.

If you want to knit lace from one of these grids, it’s obvious that the marked squares can become yarn overs. There are other considerations as well: do you want to have a plain row after every row with yarn overs? Do you want to knit garter stitch lace or stockinette? You also need to figure out where to put the decreases, because the location of the decreases will affect the appearance of your lace. The key thing is that you need the same number of decreases in your stitch pattern as you have yarn overs. Be prepared to swatch a lot to see what happens, but do try a lot of variations – you’ll learn a lot about lace and might get surprising and interesting results. (If you are keeping your code decipherable, you’ll want to have the decrease in the same line as its corresponding yarn over.)

This is the grid I started with:

Grids10

Then I offset it by six. (I don’t remember why, but it doesn’t change its ultimate appearance when repeated in any case.)

Gridsinverted

All these stitch patterns are multiples of 12. The return rows are all purl stitches, except that I knit one and purled one into each double yarn over.

lace key

Peace Lace: Swatch 1

In this first swatch, I started out by putting a decrease next to every yarn over in the chart:

lace1

Row 1: k1, yo, ssk, k6, k2tog, yo, k1
Row 2 and other wrong side rows: purl. For double yarn overs, knit the first loop and purl the second.
Row 3: k3, yo, k2tog, k2, ssk, yo, k3
Row 5: k4, k2tog, yo2, ssk, k4
Row 7: k3, ssk, yo, k2, yo, k2tog, k3
Row 9: k4, k2tog, yo2, ssk, k4
Row 11: yo, k2tog, k8, ssk, yo
Row 13: k4, k2tog, yo2, ssk, k4
Row 15: k2, yo, k2tog, k4, ssk, yo, k2
Row 17: k4, k2tog, yo2, ssk, k4
Row 19: k3, ssk, yo, k2, yo, k2tog, k3

As I knit my initial chart, I changed where the decreases went with an eye to making everything flow. This was the end result:

5727962565_e0b075daed_blace2

Row 1: k1, yo, k1, k2tog, k4, ssk, k1, yo, k1
Row 2 and other wrong side rows: purl. For double yarn overs, knit the first loop and purl the second.
Row 3: k3, yo, k2tog, k2, ssk, yo, k3
Row 5: k4, ssk, yo2, k2tog, k4
Row 7: k3, ssk, yo, k2, yo, k2tog, k3
Row 9: k2, k2tog, k2, yo2, k2, ssk, k2
Row 11: yo, k1, k2tog, k6, ssk, k1, yo
Row 13: k3, ssk, k1, yo2, k1, k2tog, k3
Row 15: k2, yo, k1, k2tog, k2, ssk, k1, yo, k2
Row 17: k4, ssk, yo2, k2tog, k4
Row 19: k3, ssk, yo, k2, yo, k2tog, k3

Peace Lace: Swatch 2

In the second swatch, I made most of the decreases line up vertically in the chart, swerving only to go around the yarnovers in the same line:

5728515030_e9f95dbc3f_b
lace3

Row 1 (RS): ssk, yo, k8, yo, k2tog.
Row 2 and other wrong side rows: purl. For double yarn overs, knit the first loop and purl the second.
Row 3 (RS): ssk, k2, yo, k4, yo, k2, k2tog.
Row 5 (RS): ssk, k4, yo2, k4, k2tog.
Row 7 (RS): ssk, k3, yo, k2, yo, k3, k2tog.
Row 9 (RS): ssk, k4, yo2, k4, k2tog.
Row 11 (RS): yo, ssk, k8, k2tog, yo.
Row 13 (RS): k2tog, k4, yo2, k4, ssk.
Row 15 (RS): ssk, k, yo, k6, yo, k, k2tog.
Row 17 (RS): ssk, k4, yo2, k4, k2tog.
Row 19 (RS): ssk, k3, yo, k2, yo, k3, k2tog.

Peace Lace: Swatch 3

In the third, I added in some twisted stitches for the fun of it:

5728514856_ebe8d242fa_b

lace4
Row 1 (RS): ssk, yo, k8, yo, k2tog.
Row 2 and all other wrong side rows: purl. (When you come to a double yarn over, knit the first loop and purl the second.
Row 3 (RS): ssk, k2, yo, k4, yo, k2, k2tog.
Row 5 (RS): 1/1 LC, k2, k2tog, [yo] x 2, ssk, k2, 1/1 RC.
Row 7 (RS): k, 1/1 LC, k2tog, yo, k2, yo, ssk, 1/1 RC, k.
Row 9 (RS): k2, 1/1 RC, k2tog, [yo] x 2, ssk, 1/1 LC, k2.
Row 11 (RS): yo, 1/ssk RC, k6, 1/k2tog LC, yo.
Row 13 (RS): k2tog, k4, [yo] x 2, k4, ssk.
Row 15 (RS): k, k2tog, yo, k6, yo, ssk, k.
Row 17 (RS): k2tog, k4, [yo] x 2, k4, ssk.
Row 19 (RS): ssk, k3, yo, k2, yo, k3, k2tog.

Next: Cables.

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