My dream house has stacks of books everywhere, every piece of furniture an antique, yarn as far as the eye can see (within reason, storage space is finite), and lace doilies protecting every surface that warrants one. And some that don’t. I have a weakness for fine lace knitting, and especially for lace doilies. I’d put one on the arms and back of my couch if I thought there was a chance my dog wouldn’t knock it off in the middle of the night so that it falls behind and gets eaten by a dust bunny.
On that note, I present the First Book of Modern Lace Knitting by Marianne Kinzel (naturally, one of her other books is the Second). It was published in 1972, so the language is a little dated but the concepts and patterns are still vital. The first second goes over the basic stitches and patterns used in her patterns and the second, third, and fourth are all about the patterns. The chapters are named after the shape and method used to knit them. Chapter two is about “designs knitted on two pins”, which of course just means back-and-forth on straight needles. The third chapter is for making circular pieces, and the fourth is for making square ones.
The projects themselves are the only places the age of this book works against it. For instance, are you really going to knit a rectangular cloth specifically for lining a tea tray? Unless you own a traditional tearoom or worked on the set of Downton Abbey I kind of doubt it. But could you knit it in a larger gauge and use it as a pillow case or as a table runner? Absolutely. The trick is to look past the styling and what Marianne expected you to knit in 1972 and apply it to what you want to make in 2019. Am I about to knit a bedspread using crochet cotton thread? Not if you held a gun to my head. But in a larger gauge, thicker yarn, larger needles and fewer repeats? It’s completely plausible. If you are a fan of delicate handwork, give this series a look.
Pick it up on Amazon here…