The “Three Lace Cardigan” is from the Juniper Moon Farm Findley book.

This is my final goal

The smallest size (for a 30 1/2″ bust, which I’m making) takes one ball of Findley yarn. The other five sizes take two balls. From what I’ve seen, there is a lot of stretch in the finished cardigan and even the smallest size will fit a variety of people.

Findley yarn is a delicious 50% Merino Wool, 50% Silk blend. It launched with 12 colors and two more have been added for the fall. This yarn is soft, shiny, and alluring. If your impulse is to just let it sit on your desk so you can pet and admire it (rather than knitting or crocheting with it right away) take comfort in the fact that you are not alone.

I fell in love with the Three Lace Cardigan as soon as I saw it, but haven’t gotten around to knitting it until now. You know how that goes, too many current projects on the go, gifts to be made, etc. I also admit to being a little intimidated by the idea of knitting an entire cardigan out of lace weight yarn even if it is on size US 5 needles!

To break the cycle I declared the TLC my Ravellenic Games project. That would give me an excuse to toss all other projects aside and just focus on the cardigan.

I was impatient to get through the garter stitch hem.

This tactic has worked well, as you know if you are a fan of ours on Facebook where I have been regularly posting progress pictures.

On one of the pictures someone asked if I had tips for beginners and I was puzzled since the pattern is pretty straight forward so far, but I think I’ve thought of some.

Be Bold! Go Forth and Knit!

However, most of my tips are not specific to the Three Lace Cardigan but are general knitting hints that will apply to most projects.

First, don’t be intimidated by all the lace in this pattern. The stitches are written out AND charted so you can look at both. In fact, if you aren’t sure about reading charts this could be a good pattern to start with since it has both.

I’m not an accomplished lace knitter who produces tons of fabulous lace shawls, but I’d say the lace patterns in this cardigan are simple enough for someone new to lace to manage.

• Highlight, Circle and Make Notes.

This is one of those patterns where you’ll want to make a copy and then scribble all over it.

Circle the numbers related to the size you are making.  Highlight the “at the same time” directions for the neck and arm shaping. By reading the pattern through once in advance of starting to knit you’ll avoid surprises later on.

• Keep in mind that stitch markers are your friend. I’ve been applying them liberally as I go along.

Stitch markers can help keep you on track.

First I used them when I was casting on. Since it was over 100 sts, I placed a marker after every group of 10 to make them easier to count.

I took them out on the first row since I was just knitting garter stitch for a while.

Then I replaced them at the end of each pattern repeat for the first lace pattern. I like to knit while I watch TV and the markers helped keep me on track. I could glance down to work the yarn overs then zip along to the next marker.

I removed them for the second lace pattern, which has a lot of stockinette stitch, and then replaced them for the third pattern.

Starting the third lace pattern.

So far I haven’t made any mistakes!

• Take time to admire your work

I recently read an interview on the Vogue Knitting website with Brooke Nico and she pointed out that people forget to look at their knitting. You have to know how your project looks when it’s correct to understand when it’s wrong.

That’s good advice and I’ve been keeping it in mind as I work my Three Lace Cardigan. Even if I hadn’t read that article the yarn and pattern are so pretty that I would still be stopping to pet it on a regular basis!

Taking Shape

This cardigan is worked in one piece to the armhole shaping.

That’s nice because it reduces the amount of finishing needed at the end.

The next challenge will be dividing for the front and backs after I work a few more rows of the third lace repeat.

I’m sure that if I take it step by step it won’t give me any trouble.

The Ravellenic Games end on August 12. I know I won’t have the cardigan finished by the deadline, but I’ll have made enough progress to keep going.

When the end of a project is in sight, especially a fun one worked in yummy yarn, it’s hard to put it down!