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Greetings –
On my vacation trip earlier this month, the fall colors and scenery in the Black Hills of South Dakota were just wonderful – what a feast for the eyes and inspiration for yet-to-be new designs. We were fortunate to catch perfect weather for horseback riding, camping, and the annual Buffalo Roundup in Custer State Park. Here are just a couple of the beautiful scenes along the way. And there I am on "Tom", one of outfitter Bob Lantis' horses. Yes, I survived 4 days of horseback riding!
Getting back to the discussion of knitting … The holiday season is fast approaching! To help you choose just the right knitting project for that special occasion or gift, I have created a new section of the HeartStrings design gallery called "Holidays and Special Occasions". More about this below.
Enjoy!
Jackie E-S / HeartStrings FiberArts
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Holiday Knitting
Knitting patterns for holidays and special occasions from the Jackie E-S Design Collections. Click the pictures to proceed to the online gallery pages with detailed information for patterns in each collection.
Outstanding Patterns
Dear Jackie,
I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you how much I love your patterns. Not only are they gorgeous, but your presentation is outstanding. The pictures are all so clear, the type faces easy to read, the spacing and design layout make it easy to read and follow. I also dearly appreciate your design notes — they are so incredibly helpful!
You put together just outstanding patterns, making it so easy for intermediate knitters like me to understand and have success with lace, and to not give up in frustration.
Thank you for not only offering such fabulous patterns, but for taking the time to include so many details and helpful hints. I have many patterns I've purchased from other places that I can't follow very easily, and have put down in frustration. Not so with any Heartstrings pattern I've purchased — they are far superior to others!
I use Heartstrings patterns as the model for all other patterns now. It's how patterns SHOULD be presented.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Warmly,
Debi in Las Vegas
Quick Tips – Knitting with Silk
If someone asked, chances are someone else has the same question. Keith asked …
Do you have any tips on knitting lace with 100% silk? I've found a lovely laceweight 100% silk from Schaefer yarns called Andrea. It's the colorway called Clara Barton, in blues and greens, just beautiful. I'd love to knit a lacy scarf or shawl. I've done only a little lace knitting and no knitting or lace knitting with silk. Do you have any tips for patterns and handling, such as how to treat it, wash it after knitting? I guess I wouldn't block. Thanks very much for any help.
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Hi Keith, I knit with silk a LOT. In fact, I happen to have a shawl I recently knitted using Schaefer Andrea. It is the beautiful Bobble Lace Flowers. If you look around my online design gallery, you’ll also see that there are lot of items that I knitted in silk.
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Bobble Lace Flowers
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Silk is a slippery fiber. For slippery fibers, some knitters prefer using less-slippery needles such as wood, bamboo, plastic/teflon-coated metal needles, etc. I personally use metal needles most of the time, just because that is what I am used to (and I like my stitches to move along the needles easily without the drag of wood, etc.) So test out a sample with various types of needles if you have them and see what you are most comfortable with.
Silk is an inelastic fiber, so if you are used to knitting with a stretchy wool, you’ll want to knit on the looser side so that you can get your needle point easily into the stitches. If you are already a loose knitter, you shouldn’t have any problem with this. If you are a tight knitter, be sure that you are forming the new stitches around the fullest part of your needles (i.e. rather than around the tip of the needle and then pushing them back to the fullest part).
Cat's Cradle Lace Scarf
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Silk blocks beautifully! I block my knitted lace made in silk just like I do any other knitted lace. There is some information on blocking and some other short articles about silk in the Articles & Tips section of the Resource area of the HeartStrings website.The Cat's Cradle Lace Scarf pattern also includes a mini-tutorial on blocking lace.
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Enjoy knitting with your silk! Jackie E-S
HeartStrings FiberArts / Jackie E-S Design Collections
From the classic to the uniquely appealing.
Skill-building, comprehensive instructions.
Yarn-generic patterns for your creative freedom.
Specializing in Knitted Lace and Beaded Knitting.
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