Введение
Leptira, a free knitting pattern from Knitty.com.
INTRODUCTION
Leptira
by Rosemary (Romi) Hill
My first ever published pattern appeared in Knitty, so I thought it would be fun to design a mashup of some of my favorite shawls along the way since then! The tencel lace-weight from Trailhead reminded me of butterflies every time I looked at it, and that gave me the name (leptira means "butterfly" in Croatian) and the stitch motifs. The inner mesh portion is shaped using short rows to build a crescent from the top, and then the leaf motif grows organically, with all of the increases written into the motif so that they flow outward. The edging is flowery and lovely, and even though it may look like a difficult motif, it's actually created rather simply by drastically increasing the number of stitches and then stretching and pinning during blocking.
If you've never knit lace before, I have a couple of tips! First, knit a little on the loose side to be able to manipulate your stitches more easily. Second, lace never realizes its complete beauty until it's been wet blocked and pinned. Before that, it can look like a shriveled-up shower cap! If you want to remind yourself of the blocking magic that will happen, definitely swatch, wet the swatch, and then stretch and pin it out. Then you can remind yourself that the blocking magic will indeed happen for you.
model: Rosemary (Romi) Hill, Remy Xavier
photos: Rosemary (Romi) Hill
SIZE
One
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Width, tip to tip: 70 inches/178 cm
Depth at center: 20 inches/51 cm
MATERIALS
Yarn
Trailhead Yarns Cabot Trail [100% tencel; 800 yds/732 m per 3.5 oz/100 g skein]; color: Knitty; 1 skein
Editor's note: This beautiful colorway, shown below in the skein, was dyed especially by Trailhead Yarns to celebrate our 20th Anniversary! You can get it by ordering from Yarns Untangled, the exclusive LYS retailer for this colorway. Located in Toronto, Canada, they will ship worldwide.
Yarn Characteristics
The sample shown uses a laceweight tencel yarn that drapes beautifully and holds a block well. Choose a yarn with no stretch for similar results.
Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below - every knitter's gauge is unique]
1 US #4/3.5mm circular needle, 24-inch/60 cm or longer
Notions
optional stitch markers
blocking mat
lots of t-pins
optional flexible blocking wires
sharp needle
FINISHING
Wash using wool wash, making sure to rinse wool wash out thoroughly. Remove excess water from shawl and block by weaving blocking wires through top edging of shawl, and then through middle edging point of each edging motif. Pull tight and pin out blocking wires, evening out shawl. Stretch, stretch, stretch the lace into shape. Wet material is stronger than dry, so don't worry! Pin out each edging loop separately to create scallop, then remove flexible blocking wires from edging, leaving wires woven through top edge. When thoroughly dry, unpin, sew in ends.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Romi Hill lives on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern Nevada, where the high-desert nights are cool and the air is clear and crisp. A lifelong crafter and knitter, she is inspired by the natural surroundings in her corner of the world, and her designs have an organic flow. She specializes in lace of all weights, and her patterns are known for their knitterly details.
Romi's lace book from Interweave Press, New Lace Knitting, features timeless patterns for garments and accessories. Her work has been featured in numerous magazines and books, and knit by thousands of knitters. Check out her eBook collections and subscriptions on Ravelry where you can see her full pattern collection.
Follow her on Instagram and YouTube, and find her work on Ravelry, or in her Ravelry forum @ Romi's Studio.
Pattern & images © 2023 Rosemary (Romi) Hill