Monday, August 6, 2007

Marker use

I am new to knitting lace. I made the Retro shrug and as simple as the pattern is I still made several mistakes sooooo before embarking on something harder ( I absolutely adore the Essential Tank) I would love some advice on where to put the markers that will help keep me on target. I noticed that the person who posted the beginning of her Lily of the Valley shawl found markers very helpful. Thanks!

3 comments:

Lauren Dorsee Dillon said...

I put markers at every pattern repeat and also a split ring marker at every vertical pattern completion. If shaping is involved, a marker where you increase or decrease is helpful as well. Hope this helps.

Lauren Dorsee Dillon said...

I forgot. I also put markers where the border stitches end and begin.

Stitch-ay Woman said...

First, I decide whether the pattern is complex enough to require markers between each pattern repeat. If it is not a complex pattern, or the repeats are irregular, I pick some spots -- about 30 to 50 stitches apart -- where there are no/minimal increases and decreases, and I place a marker in there. I always put one at the midpoint of the piece (usually this is marked on the chart by a thicker-than-usual line) and for complicated, regularly repeating patterns, I put a marker at the beginning of each repeat. Then-- most important step-- I take a highlighter pen and highlight the line between each pair of stitches where I have placed a marker, and I know that the highlighter mark means that I should be slipping a marker at that point.
I always include at least the midpoint marker, even if I am not marking pattern repeats, because it is invaluable if the stitch count gets off. When you are trying to locate an error, using the markers really helps you narrow down the problem.