English Lace Chart

Someone on Ravelry mentioned that she wished there were a chart for the lace in the Leaf Kimono top, so I thought I'd put it up here. It's an 8-row rep, purl the WS rows. The pattern calls for an extra selvedge stitch on each side, which is not included in the chart.

Leaf Kimono Top is published!

The Summer issue of Interweave Knits just came out a few days ago, so I thought now would be a good time to show off the original version.

This was made from 3 skeins of LanaKnits Allhemp 3 in "dusty rose." I more or less finished it last summer, but I've been fussing with it on and off since then, trying different ties, for example. The final ties at both the neck and the waist (the IK version doesn't have waist ties) are twisted cords made from a no-longer distributed ribbon yarn by Patons. I did a row of single crochet around the neckline in the same ribbon yarn as well which gives the top a bit more stability. It's a little longer than the IK version. With that one, I wasn't sure if I'd have enough yarn--turned out I did, and I wish I'd made it another inch or so longer.

Overall, I think I preferred the Euroflax yarn to the hemp. I like the

drape of the hemp, but after a few washes it's developed a dry, papery, slightly roughed-up texture that I can live with, but don't absolutely love.

At one point the pink top had a knit flower in the center front, but I didn't like the way the flower turned out and didn't have more yarn for another one. I still think something would look nice there, but I may settle for a broach as I'm ready to move on, knitwise.

By the way, if you haven't seen Knitting Daily's Galleries, where they try on the actual garments from IK on people of different heights and sizes, I recommend having a look. It's a great way to get a better sense of how a garment will actually work for you.

Welcome...

to RopeKnits, a website that has been way too long in the making. There isn't much here yet; I hope to have more soon. In the meantime, the Kimono Style Sweater pattern is for sale and the Seafoam Shawl is available as a freebie.

One of these days, I'll include a "portfolio" of published works. For now, the easiest way to see what else I've done is to check out my Ravelry page. If you live in the Champaign-Urbana area, please also have a look at my Teaching Schedule -- maybe I'll get to meet you in person at one of my classes!

All the best,

Sarah