Lace knitting can work very well in miniature and a simple lace bedspread or dress can make a stunning addition to your dolls house or miniature scene. You do not need any special equipment, except perhaps for a magnifier, but may need a lot of patience to complete a lace pattern.
Many people are put off the idea of lace knitting, as it looks far more complicated than it actually is. The key to lace knitting is to know which row you are working on a pattern. These patterns are often very simple repeats of say 4 to 8 stitches over perhaps 4 to 6 rows of knitting, but even so it can be difficult to work out where you are in a pattern if you put your knitting down mid row and leave it for a few hours.
Lace knitting can also look very different if knitted in different yarns. Although lace knitting works best in cotton yarns, it can look equally stunning in 1-ply wool yarns depending on the pattern used.
More open lace patterns can be worked using larger needles and thinner yarns (these will also drape much better). Experimentation is often the key, as some yarns will work better than others and the finished results can look much better in one yarn type than another.
One thing to remember when knitting miniature lace is that if you scale up the lace pattern to ‘human size’ the lovely lace design might have enormous ‘holes’ in it and would not look right, however it may work in miniature.
When working a lace pattern in miniature for the first time, it may be best to try the pattern on much larger needles and with thicker yarn to get used to the lace pattern before you move to knitting it in miniature. It will also help to have a plain cloth on your lap (or skirt/trousers) in a colour that contrasts strongly with the miniature knitting so the pattern shows up well as you are knitting it. For example if you are knitting in a pastel colour or white, use a very dark colour cloth on your lap.
The stitches used to make lace patterns are generally quite simple and very often consist of knitting stitches together and ‘making’ stitches by putting the yarn over or round the needle before working the next stitch.
Lace patterns can either be written or charted, all our patterns have written instructions, as this is what the majority of our customers prefer. As yet there is no standard set of abbreviations for the stitches, so even if you are an experienced lace knitter it is always best to check the abbreviation before working the stitches.
Even if you are an experienced knitter, if you start with a simple pattern (less than 10 rows repeat on the pattern), and progress to a more complex pattern you will find it easier. Sometimes a good magnifier can be of great help when working lace patterns.
