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Lace Knitting Charts



Above is a simple lace knitting chart.  Generally speaking lace projects are knit on single pointed needles and the final items are not circular in design; think scarfs, shawls, etc.  There is movement as one knits this type of project from having the right-side face the knitter and on the next row the wrong-side facing.  This back and forth makes it important to track exactly what row is being knit.  On the odd numbered rows the chart is read from right to left (because that's how a right-handed knitter knits) and on even numbered rows it's read from left to right because the chart is always showing you how the right side will look.  (OK, can you see how this might already be a bit too complicated for some of us, or do I really mean me. ) 

There are only four types of stitches to remember in this chart.  The vertical line is a knit stitch on the right side of the project and purl on the wrong side.  There is the yarn over the knit 2 together (k2tog).   If you want to see how these two stitches are done check out this very short video.  A great part of this lace, like most knitted lace, is the increases and decreases are all done on the right side of the project.  Generally the wrong side is done by purling every stitch.

One of the drawbacks of lace knitting is the chart doesn't offer a clue about how the finished product will look.  After some experience the knitter will be able to visualize how it should appear, but beginners are likely to struggle because the transfer of chart to project isn't direct.  Contrast this to the obvious pattern in Fair Isle knitting.  

Another confusion is that the symbols change depending on the designer.  See the chart below, empty squares designate the knit/purls unlike the vertical lines in the chart above.  Although a bit difficult to see, the slanted line connected to a vertical one are used for both the Ssk and K2tog stitches below.  The difference between the two depends whether the slanted line is located on the left or right of the vertical line.  (This just gets more complicated doesn't it.  Couldn't a * or a filled-in dot be used for one of the two, she asks with a bit of pain in her voice?  It's not like there's a shortage of symbols, is it?)  Of course I could change the symbols myself, but a degree of precision would need to be used, not my strong suit. [I could ramble on here about the apparent shortage of numbers for the highways near my location in the Lower Mainland.  We have highway 7, 7A and 7B; what were 5 and 6 or 8 and 9 busy?  But I'll stop here.  Whew, I do feel better though.]   

Chart of Little Arrows
Above is a copy of the lace chart for the shawl/scarf Little Arrows, a failed stalled project I wrote about last summer.  As you can see it does require the yarn over (Yo) and knit 2 together (K2tog), but it also adds a SsK (slip, slip knit), M1 (make one) and Sl2 K1, p2sso to the mix.  Also note at the bottom of the chart it indicates a 6-st rep (6 stitch repeat).  This means the knitter repeats the 6 stitches in the bracket as many times as necessary to complete the pattern.   As the shawl/scarf grows the repeat can take place many, many times.  (Again can you see how someone, perhaps again someone like me, can easily become confused and make a mistake following a chart like this.)

Little Arrows is patiently waiting for me to have the type of time and concentration to be able to knit each row carefully (correctly).  That time should be coming as I get over my knitting chart phobia.  This is only an intermediate level knitting pattern, and I'll be darned if it gets the best of me.  Perhaps like my previous problem with the False Creek Cowl, I need to start over with different yarn.  We'll see how that goes.  

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