Knitting Lace

I've discovered that I LOVE to knit lace. Yes, it's complicated, and yes, please don't bring it to your knitting group because you will end up ripping it all out, but it IS really addictive. Who knew putting holes into your knitting ON PURPOSE could be so enjoyable! lol
I am currently working on an 1860's Sontag from Godey's Lady's Book Magazine. The above photo is the actual pattern and illustration. I wanted a knitted lace for the edging of the shawl, instead of just plain knitting with the fake ermine spots or a crochet shell border. I like to be unique! So I went hunting for the perfect knitted lace edging.
I found this blog: 1884 Knitted Lace Sample Book
I highly recommend it. The author, Vintage Kathleen, discovered a handwritten journal from the late 1800's in an antique store that had handwritten and newsprint clippings of lace knitting patterns. She has been diligently working her way through them, knitting the lace and posting her discoveries. Go Kathleen! What a fabulous bit of American History preserved through her efforts!
And lace knitters get to enjoy the fantastic patterns. I picked out this Shell Pattern for my Sontag.
I'm using JaggerSpun Heather 2/8 wool. JaggerSpun makes some fabulous yarn, fyi. Spun in Maine, the company is over 100 years old, and has some really lovely laceweight, fingering, sport and dk weight wool. They also have a wool-silk yarn that I've not personally used, but I've heard people swooning over so I'd like to try it. I also like the idea of buying American, and I try to do that whenever I can (which can be challenging), but as this is a rant-free post, I'm going to stop there!lol

Back Again

I haven't been using this blog that much the past year,well at all, really! mostly because I got completely sucked into Ravelry!! As such, I haven't been using that site to keep track of my projects, as I had originally envisioned. However, I really want to branch out into some other yarny-type crafts, namely sewing, tatting, and netting, and I have become fanatical about learning about historical clothes-making, so I thought again of this blog. :)
I realized that don't keep written journals, pen and paper type, but these blogs are really the same type of thing. Electronic recordings of me, complete with photos! so here goes. :)
Now, I'm going to try and figure out how to get Ravely and this blog connected, if it's possible.