My Fashionable Life

No extraordinary examples of lace here, but I recently picked up Sharon Miller's book, Heirloom Knitting. It is packed with charts and may be just the thing you're looking for, especially if you want to create a one-of-a-kind piece. The book is published by Shetland Times. The links on the back of the book are:

www.Heirloom-Knitting.com

www.shetland-books.co.uk

I really like the Tina Shawl that Wendy made. http://wendyknits.net/knit/tinashawl.htm

Try perusing -http://knittingbeyondthehebrides.org/lace/index.html

I think the recommendation above for Heirloom Knitting is right on target though!

I am obsessed with lace at the moment. Apart from A Gathering of Lace, which I guess you've already looked at, try:

http://www.knittingbeyondthehebrides.org/lace.html

http://www.fibertrends.com/viewer/V4_shawls.html

Eunny at www.eunnyjang.com/knit does beautiful lace work. She has posted a free pattern for her print o' the wave stole and has loads of information and suggestions on her site. Good luck!

http://www.atimetoknit.com/confidence.html

Charlotte's Web is a very pretty lace shawl!

The patterns he uses are hard to find, but I love ogling Michael Kaprelian's lace. http://www.angelfire.com/on2/fwlaceknitter/

I also love Marianne Kinzel's lace patterns like Daffodil. And her books are cheap. http://www.needlebeetle.com/ptfolio/knitting/daffodil.htm

There's the Forest Path Stole from an old issue of Interweave Knits, and Orenberg shawls in general make me think "heirloom". And then there's Robert Powell's #106 (http://www.catherineknits.com/kits.html#anchor129653) which I think would be beautiful in a laceweight yarn.

Nobody's mentioned the Peacock Feathers shawl from Fiddlesticks? LOOOVE that shawl.

And, yes, Heirloom Knitting is definitely right!

I'm sure you've seen the 'Homework' Gallery, but just in case: http://www.knitting-and.com/photos/gallery/homework

I go there about once a week, to dream, and sigh

Knitterguy's Rosebud shawl is quite beautiful:

http://knitterguy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/04/the_rosebud_sha_3.html

Both Sharon Miller at Heirloom Knitting (check out the pattern collections) and Fiddlesticks knitting have great lace patterns. What swings it with me is just how clear and well written their patterns are. Good charts too.

And oh.....

http://www.grumperina.com/knitblog/archives/2006/04/ash_of_the_moun.htm

You speak Japanese, yes?

I often visit this posting on Saartje's blog to see her mother's version of Frost Flowers from "A Gathering of Lace." I like Eunny's too, but the way it is worn here, is perfect: http://www.saartjeknits.nl/archives/2005/08/index.html#a000077

There is a book called Knitting Lace by Susanna Lewis is supposed the best one out there. The bad news is it's discontinued and if you can get a copy it's very expensive BUT I am expecting a copy that I ordered from the UK to arrive soon. I would be more than happy to make a copy of some of the patterns if you would like.

Also a quick serach on google came up with this link:

http://www.knitlacepatterns.com/

I am sure whatever you make will deserve to be placed in the V&A.

There is a book called Knitting Lace by Susanna Lewis is supposed the best one out there. The bad news is it's discontinued and if you can get a copy it's very expensive BUT I am expecting a copy that I ordered from the UK to arrive soon. I would be more than happy to make a copy of some of the patterns if you would like.

Also a quick serach on google came up with this link:

http://www.knitlacepatterns.com/

I am sure whatever you make will deserve to be placed in the V&A.

hands-down favorite for the MOST exquisite lace is michael kaprelian: http://www.angelfire.com/on2/fwlaceknitter/

marianne kinzel's books are the greatest for making a stunning lace piece that does not get overly fussy in the making (some of sharon miller's patterns are just too involved, and sometimes unnecessarily so)

also look for martha waterman's book knitting traditional lace shawls; i found this book informative and inspiring when i started knitting shawls many years ago. she teaches you how to do a shawl "layout and design", (though there are errors in some of the book's patterns)

Here's one of my favorites: http://www.blackberry-ridge.com/pnstshl.htm

http://www.heirloom-knitting.co.uk/projects16.html

Shetland lace at the Shetland Museum:

http://www.shetland-museum.org.uk/collections/textiles/shetland_lace_knitting.htm

This is another page I have bookmarked for Shetland lace knitting, which has some good closeup pictures, and there are other links in the Meanderings section of the site.

http://www.heartstringsfiberarts.com/shetlnd1.shtm
Hope you find what you are looking for :)

There's a great blog of a woman who knits a lot of lace called something like 'woman of many faces' I have lost the link and just spent ten minutes trying to search for it but to no avail. If you have the time to search for a while I would recommend it. She knits great lace.

Also worth looking at on Knitting-and are the doilies. One is table cloth size!
http://www.knitting-and.com/photos/gallery/doilypatterns
Good luck!

Here is a jaw-dropping shawl I found through Yarn Harlot.http://knitterguy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/04/the_rosebud_sha_3.html

He has more.

Beautiful antique doilies (with patterns):
http://www.yarnover.net/patterns/doilies/index.html

Lyra is an incredible table-sized doily:
http://lyralearninggroup.blogspot.com/

Also, you might check out the laceforallseasons Yahoo! Group (I think you have to join to look in the archives):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laceforallseasons/

Shelda Eggers described the progress of a lace design on her lace knitting blog:

http://www.shelda.net/blogarchives/2005/08/index.html

For got this one:

http://www.kunststricken.ch/galerie_deck.html

True heirloom - the first thing that pops into my head is the Wedding Ring Shawl from Heirloom Knitting but that is a LONG-term project. I think many of the other Heirloom Knitting designs would be great as well - both the ones from the book and the ones you can order separately.

Fiddlesticks also has several patterns I love.

I have a bunch of lace stoles posted on a recent blog entry that I am trying to choose between. You might want to click on the links to visit the designers' websites to check out their other patterns.

Can't wait to see what you pick!

Here you can find a lot of patterns http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns-lace.htm

Here are what I think as 3 of the best, though Heirloom Knitting is good to read as well. Look at Jean's work http://jeanmiles.blogspot.com/ and at her home site http://www.jeanmile.demon.co.uk/.
Jean is knitting the Princess Shawl as are Ted and Katherine, see here http://wabisabi.typepad.com/the_princess_diaries/ and here is a master of the craft of shetland shawls http://www.elspethshawls.co.uk/
There was also the KBTH lace symposium.
http://www.knittingbeyondthehebrides.org/lace/index.html
Enjoy lace knitting, it was the first knitting I ever learnt many years ago and it is quite addictive.

Frostflowers and Leaves done in a wintry colour.

http://www.zweitauben.de/jublog/?page_id=98

If you are interested in old lace patterns, try looking for Lacis publications

http://lacis.com/catalog/catalog.html

They have reprints of old charted lace knitting from Germany and other places. Many of the designs are for tablecloths, runners, doilies and so on, but the transition from circular tablecover to circular shawl is short. I have the trio by Christine Duchrow and find them inspiring.

Hope it's not too late to comment - there's a woman in Canada doing amazing Shetland-style lace work http://members.shaw.ca/wool-garden/studio/studio.html
Love your site.