Hope everyone had a good (and safe) weekend. Knitcircus tech-editor Stephannie and I had a great time at Stitches Midwest.
Handwerks Winner:
The winner of the Little Braided Cbale socks kit from Handwerks is:
Wordlily from the comments!
Author Interview: Wendy Johnson of Wendy Knits
Read on for a chance to win her new book, Wendy Knits Lace!
Beloved blogger Wendy Johnson's books Socks from the Toe Up and Toe-Up Socks for Every Body helped fuel the huge surge of interest in constructing socks from the tip, and now she's turned to another of have favorite topics, with her new book, Wendy Knits Lace, a collection of lace patterns meant to be worn everywhere the knitter goes. Wendy's mind easily unravels knitting challenges, and her friendly, approachable style, filled with tips to make knitting more fun, makes this book a must-have for any lace-inclined knitter.
The Knitcircus Contributing Editor talked to us about her Everyday Lace collection and love of all things lace; check out her current article, Design Your Own Cowl, for a chance to try your hand at creating a unique and wearable lace cowl !
KC: What draws you to lace?
WJ: For me, lace has a high “entertainment factor.” You can create stunning results with surprisingly little effort and at relatively low cost. A completed lace project looks impressive and makes a great gift for non-knitters: they usually think you must be a genius to be able to create lace!
KC: Why should knitters not fear charts and possibly making a mistake in the lace pattern?
WJ: In my experience, charted lace has fewer errors than lace patterns written out line-by-line. When creating a chart, it is much easier to catch errors because a chart is a much more visual representation of a pattern than a string of knitting abbreviations.
If a knitter is used to knitting from written instructions then, yes, there will be a bit of a learning curve when switching to charts. I started knitting before charts were popular and knit everything from written-out instructions. But after learning to use charts, I would never go back.
KC: What tips in the book made lace much easier to navigate for you?
WJ: Use stitchmarkers, and lots of them! There is no shame in marking out each repeat of your lace pattern with markers. If you are a relatively new knitter you will have far better success seeing each lace repeat separated. You can much more easily troubleshoot errors if you check each repeat after knitting to ensure you have the proper number of stitches and all increases and decreases are in the right places. If you are an experienced lace knitter, markers in your knitting can be a reminder of where you are: you’ve completed a repeat and it’s time to start over.
KC"What’s next?
WJ: Who knows? At the moment I’m still enchanted by all things lacy and by different shapes in lace, but I am a fickle knitter and could change my focus at any time
To win a copy of Wendy Knits Lace, please leave a comment here, a comment in teh Knitcircus Ravelry Group or Twitter #kcwendyknits including an email or rav name and your favorite: Wendy Knits pattern OR way to knit socks (toe-up, top-down) OR lace pattern in the fall Knitcircus. Winners will be picked Wednesday, August 31st, sometime before noon.
Thanks for the chance to win! My favorite way to knit socks is on dpns, top down. My Rav name is kala.
Posted by: kala | August 29, 2011 at 12:05 PM
I'm a two circs, two at a time, toe up socks girl. I have knit them other ways and always end up going back to this way. Thanks for the great giveaway. I'm mim on Ravelry.
Posted by: Mim | August 29, 2011 at 12:13 PM
I would love to win this book
and I love to knit sock toe up two at a time on one circular needle
MOE
Posted by: moemoeknits | August 29, 2011 at 12:21 PM
I am working my way up to socks. Would love to learn two at a time; but I love shawls and your, "Delightfully Simple Shawl" looks awesome to cast on.
Would love to win your lace book...looks awesome!
I'm Yogaticha on Ravelry.
Posted by: Yogaticha | August 29, 2011 at 12:26 PM
I'm scared of charts but want to learn how to use them. My ravelry name is mhmtl.
Posted by: Miriam | August 29, 2011 at 01:02 PM
I am finally learning toe up socks and I am in LOVE! thanks for the chance to win!
Posted by: Erin@Wild Whispers | August 29, 2011 at 01:06 PM
I would loove to win a copy of this book! I do top down socks on the magic loop method, but I want to try the toe up method.
Posted by: Jillian_R | August 29, 2011 at 01:23 PM
my fave wendy knits pattern is the Lady Bertram Shawlette ..its simple and lovely! thanks!
Posted by: lorraine | August 29, 2011 at 01:49 PM
A book I would love to own-please enter me in the drawing-
Posted by: Michele | August 29, 2011 at 02:02 PM
Just submitted a long comment, but it disappeared ??? Don't want to duplicate, but briefly - LOVE LACE! Love Wendy's patterns! Thanks for the opportunity to win the latest book, which has been on my wish list since I first read about it.
@FitzyFiberFancy on Twitter
Posted by: Angie Fitzpatrick (@FitzyFiberFancy) | August 29, 2011 at 02:21 PM
Can't wait to see this book in stores! I just knit my first 2 pairs of socks this year and can't imagine doing them any way other than toe-up...
Posted by: nina | August 29, 2011 at 02:32 PM
i would love to learn to knit lace, i just need to learn how to read the charts properly.
AuntSara is my ravelry id
Posted by: Sara | August 29, 2011 at 03:04 PM
The Highland Fling socks are lovely. I prefer knitting socks toe up so I can use up every last inch of yarn. I like long socks for midwest winters! Rav amchart
Posted by: Anne Marie | August 29, 2011 at 03:35 PM
Lace knitting is my favorite! What a great book!
Posted by: Tammy | August 29, 2011 at 03:55 PM
Wendy just keeps putting out amazing patterns. I love it!
Posted by: Erin | August 29, 2011 at 04:03 PM
One of my favorite patterns is On-Hold Socks and I plan to learn Toe up socks from her book Socks from the Toe Up!
Posted by: StaceyKnitsIt | August 29, 2011 at 05:12 PM
Wendy has some beautiful lace patterns, but the a Mitt Called Wanda really made me smile. Just too cute.
Posted by: Sheila | August 29, 2011 at 05:14 PM
My favorite Wendy Knits pattern is "Gothic Spires," and my favorite pattern from the latest edition of KC is "Dolcetto."
Posted by: Nancy N (n2n on ravelry) | August 29, 2011 at 05:28 PM
I love the shetland boarder shawl and would love a copy of WKL. Move over socks!
Posted by: Jerrecd | August 29, 2011 at 05:54 PM
Thank you for entering me in the drawing! I love so many of Wendy's patterns, but the Van Dyke socks in the first toe up socks book are my favorite - they taught me that knitting socks from the toe up was so much better than I ever thought possible. :)
Jaia on Rav.
Posted by: Julie Rousculp | August 29, 2011 at 05:58 PM
Hey there! Right now I'm droolin' over Two-Step & Tango (skinny shawlette cutie pie thang). Loving it. I love the wacky mittens too. (Right now...it's the little projects that I want to knit - I'm in Florida, and my middle name is Melted.)
I'm Dove on Rav.
Thanks for having this drawing! Cool!
Posted by: Elle | August 29, 2011 at 06:26 PM
My favorite current Knit Circus pattern is the Dolcetto, and my ravelry username is yarnygoodness. I really enjoy your blog and magezine!
Posted by: Cecelia Dunlap | August 29, 2011 at 06:52 PM
my favorite wendy knits pattern is Woodland Walk Shoulder Shawl...im a new beginner lace knitting so i am doing alittle practice before i tacke this one.
happycrafter207 (rav)
Posted by: Lori | August 29, 2011 at 07:26 PM
I love to knit socks toe up. My rav name is Sharrylee.
Posted by: Sharry Gregory | August 29, 2011 at 07:28 PM
My favorite pattern is the Two-step and Tango scarf and shawlette. My rav name is loneknitter. Thank you!
Posted by: Paula | August 29, 2011 at 07:33 PM