Phoenix Knitting Forums

If the repeat is quite short, what I do is that I read it out loud and then repeat it out loud while I knit, like a mantra.

I think one thing we just kinda skimmed over is Charts!!

Tip 1: Learn to read a chart.
Tip 2: There are many new techniques to learn with Lace. My tip, try it! When you master a new technique, the feeling is amazing!

Stitch markers! I've found the best stitch markers for fine lace are these:



They're tiny little hair bands from Claire's Accessories and come in a packet of about 100. They're very stiff (how people stretch them to put in their hair, I don't know!) so don't slip under the stitches and end up in the wrong place. They have no join in them to get snagged up like the metal markers. Plus if they got lost, it's not the end of the world.

These look brilliant Kate. The best I found were little metal rings with joins and I spent as much time faffing about with them as I did knitting. Then I found plastic curtain ring things, way too thick for lace but perfect for the Aran Afghan. I knew exactly what I wanted, but never could see it - you've come up trumps.

What a fab idea - I'm going to get some

I couldn't get stitch markers to use when making my Vivian hoodie, but spotted some plastic 'Venetian' (surely they mean Roman?) blind rings when I was in Dunelm Mill, so got those instead and, as I was using chunky-weight yarn, they worked fine.

Ooh, ooh, I bought a pack of those 'cos the hairdresser used them on me for my wedding 'do; she said they were kinder to your hair than elastic bands (yeah, right!) but I find them very fiddly to use. Perfect ... now I just have to remember where I stashed them ...!

That's what I've been looking for, too. I made some markers out of scrap yarn, but those tend to get stuck between stitches.

Although I usely get on with charts, the one for the Branching Out scarf baffles me.
I found this idea on Ravelry and it works very well for me: Write each row on one page on a ring booklet: Here is what I mean:
CLICKY

I use little rubber o-rings from B&Q. It was about £2 for a box of a hundred or so of different sizes. (They were actually initially for using on mountainbikes for various things but I may have accidentally stolen them *ahem*).

I use a brightly coloured peg to keep track of which line of the pattern I'm on. Plus it means I can clip the pattern (printed off the net - wouldn't work with a book) to my trousers/my computer desk/whatever is closest to stop it escaping in the middle of a tricky bit.

I got some of the little hairbands the other week (I think they were £1 for a packet of 100). I've used them on 4.5mm needles and they were fine. I've also been using one to hold the tips of my circs together (doubled over for my 2.25mm and 2.5mm sock circs) so the stitches don't fall off the ends when I'm not knitting