I fell in love with Broomstick Lace a while ago, but I wanted to do something unique, not just a run of the mill afghan or scarf. Unfortunately, there just aren't that many patterns available for Broomstick Lace items, so I put off learning how to do it. But then I saw this Hourglass Jacket over on Stitch Diva Studios, and my fate was sealed.
One of the things that really struck me about the jacket was how the different sizes of 'peacock eyes' helped to define the areas - smaller eyes for the waist, and larger eyes for the rest. I also loved the shaping. She did this with increases and decreases of the Broomstick Lace, something that's not supposed to be possible. Check out her YouTube videos here and here to find out how easy it really is.
I had two Broomstick lace needles from an Ebay auction that I won ages ago - a size 50 and a size 17. So I took the plunge, and made a sample swatch using both needles. Then I fooled around a little more, did a quick Google search for shawl patterns, bought some yarn (*sigh*) and voila, here's the finished project:
Here's another pic, out in the sunshine:
I've listed it in our shop here under the name 'Spring Blossom shawl'. It was lots of fun to make, especially the blossom rows. The only part I wasn't fond of was sewing in all those ends. Oh, and I learned how to make the blossoms from the book 'Hawaiian Lei in Crochet' by Roberta Wong.
Since the pattern is my own, all I need now is a few helpers to test knit the pattern. Anyone want to learn how to crochet Broomstick Lace?
It's really beautiful and so unique. Will your talents ever cease?
ReplyDeleteIs it a crochet pattern and not a knit? If so I'd love to test it for you. It's really pretty. I'm starting to actually like scarves. Not as much as I love to make afghans but it's a close second. :)
ReplyDelete***side note*** *GASP* She's alive!!! :)
It is definitely crochet, the only thing you use the huge knitting needle for is to hold the stitches. All the real work is done with the crochet hook.
ReplyDeleteIt's really fun and easy, and there's loads of YouTube videos showing the basics. All you'd need is the needles that I had (a 50 US and a 17 US) And a load of yarn - I used 1.5 to 2 skeins of white and half a skein pretty yarn for the flowers.
Cool! Email me the pattern and I'll try it out. :) Though I'll warn you that I'm not the most reliable tester. I'll have to make the trip to Jo-Ann's for the needles this weekend. And then making it all depends on how crazy things get with work/Girl Scouts. :)
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