Inspiration
It’s Here! Field Guide No. 15: Open
A glorious day has finally arrived. MDK Field Guide No. 15: Open is here.
Order your copy and yarns at our One-Stop Shop, right here.
We crave openness more than ever these days. Fortunately, Jeanette Sloan has created a collection of designs that allow us the opportunity to explore one of knitting’s most spectacular effects: the openwork marvel that is lace.
Welcome, Jeanette!
Jeanette Sloan is one of the knitting world’s most accomplished designers.
With more than 170 designs in her Ravelry portfolio, she has been working at a peak of imagination and skill for a very long time. Along with many contributions to The Knitter and Knitting magazines, she recently co-edited a collection with Kate Davies, Warm Hands.
The Designs
Here’s an overview of what you’ll find in this Field Guide. (Click on the pattern name to see the Ravelry page with details on each design.)
Mood Cardigan
Here it is, a swingy, shruggy cocoon that can be worn two ways. The Mood Cardigan is one of the most artful constructions we’ve seen. There are clever moments of adding cuffs and edging, but at its core, the Mood Cardigan is two rectangles that meet and hit it off famously. We’re in love with the simple lace pattern. We love it upside down or right side up. We love it, period.
Clerestory Shawl
One design, two weights of yarn. When worked in worsted weight yarn, Jeanette’s pared-down lace patterns are bold and gutsy.
Look what happens when you change to a fingering weight yarn: a completely different effect.
Instructions for both weights of yarn are included in Field Guide No. 15.
Aperture Stole
As if by improvisation, two lace patterns come and go in this delightful design. Jeanette plays not only with lace patterns here but also the yarns and colors—the pattern lays it all out exactly for you. Or you can play with the colors, yarns, and stitch patterns. So much possibility here.
Tumbling Block Lace Scarf
This design is excellent if you’re new to knitting lace patterns, and it’s a great warm-up for working the tumbling blocks section of the Clerestory Shawl.
Once again, we’re fascinated with what Jeanette’s lace patterns do when worked in yarns of differing weights. It’s delicate in fingering weight, and strikingly graphic in worsted weight yarn.
Rib Lace Scarf
Such a pretty, simple lace pattern—great for your first experiments with yarnovers and decreases. (And this lace pattern is also used in the Clerestory Shawl, so if you feel like you need a little practice to level up your lace skills, this project is for you.) With the pattern written for both fingering and worsted weight yarn, you can explore these differing effects using all sorts of yarns. If you’d like a wider scarf, simply double the number of stitches at cast on and repeat the lace pattern.
The Yarns
It has been a wild ride for us, completing this Field Guide during the pandemic. For one thing, due to Covid-19 production restraints we couldn’t bring in the yarns from La Bien Aimée that we originally chose.
But we are happy to present these superb alternative yarns for Jeanette Sloan’s inventive designs: Lichen and Lace, Fyberspates, and (coming soon) Neighborhood Fiber Co.
These wonderful dyers all went above and beyond to get yarn to us, and we are grateful to them for their amazing efforts. We hope you’ll enjoy the fruits of their labor.
For easy shopping, you’ll find all the yarns in our one-stop shop, right here.
What’s Ahead
Very soon, we’ll be diving into Jeanette’s designs with a knitalong to run through the fall. And we’ll have an ongoing conversation running in the Lounge, our online forum. It’s going to be a great season for knitting together—we look forward to it more than you know.
Lace and I have never been what you would call friends. When I received the Field Guide (thru the subscription) I thought well this is beautiful, but not for me. But when I opened it, I realized it’s time to make friends! The Tumbling Block scarf is irresistible. The Clerestory so beautiful. It’s a beautiful guide.
Hi I’m trying lace for the first time. The Ilara scarf by Louisa Harding yarntelier. I have put the stitches into blocks with stitch markers and underlined in different colours each block in the written section so I know exactly where I am. You know very quickly if you have gone wrong. It’s working for me and you might like to try it.
You can do it!!!
I have seen and admired Jeannette’ s designs in both Knitting and the Knitter for some time. But even simple, familiar Old Shale ends up being ripped out by me multiple times so sadly I need to stick to knit and purl. However, if I Were a lace whiz I would jump on the Mood Cardigan in a New York second. That’s the kind of garment IMO that would have people asking Where did you get that? So wearable. Just the swing of it! (And the lace texture gives it that extra pizazz). Chloe
Stitch markers are your friends! I have a friend who literally learned to knit about two months before lockdown. She made a garter stitch scarf and then dove head first into an Old Shale baby blanket. She was having a hard time on it so she called me and I wacked some stitch markers in it to separate the repeats–game changer! You could try out a swatch on the lace pattern from the mood cardigan with markers between the repeats to see how it goes. Or add some garter at the beginning and end of the rows and do multiple repeats and make a little scarf.
I use a long piece of contracting colored yarn (usually cotton) to separate the repeats in my knitted lace. I find it less fiddly than stitch markers, and readily available. I also use a “Safety Line” horizontally. These training wheels really help.
You hit the nail on the head. Stitch markers and Safety lines are lifesavers in lace knitting.
I had many people tell me Old Shale was a good pattern to learn lace from and it was impossible! It was only after years of knitting other laces, and getting good at reading my knitting, that I finally conquered that pattern. I think because the decreases and increases are separate from each other, it can be tricky to keep track of where you are. So don’t give up on lace, it is the most funnest thing to knit!
Don’t give up on lace Chloe! I have knitted tons of lace and still cannot make feather and fan work! There’s just something about it that makes me crazy.
These designs are amazing! Not sure they’re in my immediate future, but someday perhaps.
Ha! Those of us who subscribed to the field guides have already cast on! I highly recommend subscribing to everybody. It was such a treat to have the Guide in my mailbox before it officially came out.
Gail – don’t you feel so special drooling over is, while the rest of the world is oblivious?
Received the early subscription copy and it is masterful. Each design speaks to me especially Clerestory as the first one I want to tackle. Appreciate the designs being shown in different weights and encouragement to make mods that retain the design. Kudos on a new Field Guide very well done.
This is 1st Field Guide where I want to make EVERY SINGLE THING! In multiple colors. Beautiful
I agree with Sandy.. Every single thing! And lace! I always think I want to knit something else but get bored quickly when it isn’t lace. Thank heavens I’m retiring in October. More time to knit!
I’m not at all ashamed to say that I already ordered the kit for the Aperture Stole. I should be ashamed because I’ve ordered way too much yarn since March and I already had plenty. But the plum colorway was calling to me. I may have also ordered that four skein getaway set of sock yarn but only to get the free shipping. As I typed that, I realized that I should probably add “Can justify anything” to my resume.
I would like to borrow that phrase “Can justify anything” for my resume please.
Your resume is impressive enough already.
Supposedly there are two ways to wear the Mood cardigan. Are both ways shown in the Field Guide? If not – pictures? Love this issue!
Never mind – I looked closer at the pictures and the schematic – yes, yes, there are two different views.
First of all, congratulations on a wonderful guide. I’m an avid lace knitter and am looking forward to knitting each design. I was fortunate to meet Jeanette on two separate occasions and am in awe of her as a designer and a person! Great job!
Irresistible! I didn’t subscribe, but I’ll be ordering soon. I want to do EVERYTHING — and I’m another one who could never get feather & fan quite right. Lace: Here I come!
La Bien Aimee not available because the rest of the world did real Lockdowns that prevented the explosion of covid. It’s insane if you compare what Canada and France did compared US.
One word – Extraordinary. So much knitting so little time.
I’d recently been thinking that I’d never knit another sweater, and was probably done with lace. And then I open this post, and see Mood Cardigan. Just like that sweaters and lace are back on the table. As I continued to scroll the inspiration just kept coming. Such an outstanding collection. I just ordered my field guide! Thank you Jeanette and MDK for all this beauty.
Congratulations to all of you ladies. This is a stunning collection of patterns and yarn. Thank you all!
Disappointed
Agree, not my taste.
No, not my taste either but I believe we can all still admire the amazing technical details and artistry that Jeanette brings to this Field Guide.
That Mood cardigan is really cool – how good does that sunny yellow look (it just sings!).
I had to order this Field guide for the Mood Cardigan alone. But love the other designs as well. Can you recommend a yard for the cardigan that would knit up well using one strand, instead of the 2 stranded Helix yarn called for in the pattern. Doing all that lace with two strands might just take me over the edge!
I am waiting to login to zoom mtg by host today. Nothing happening
Mmarthaler@una.edu
☹️Missed Sat❗️Any possibility of a repeat session?
There will be a recording, we will let everyone know!
This one had me from the first pattern on the page – ordering now …
Every design is gorgeous!! I have not knit lace in awhile, and now I’m drooling over every pattern here. Jeanette Sloan is incredible.
Is the scarf/stole that Jeanette is wearing in the top photo the Aperture Stole??? It looks a little different but not sure. It’s beautiful and I would love to confirm what it is. Great patterns in this Field Guide. Just stunning. Thank you.
It is similar in that it’s rectangular and lace, but I believe it’s a design that Jeanette has not released yet but plans to.
Awesome I want to make the Mood Cardigan!
FABULOUS!!!!!s
Can someone confirm that I ordered and paid for FIELD GUIDE15 ? I don’t want to make the same mistake as I did with #14.Thank you
I am lace fanatic. 89% of what I make has some sort of lace design in it. Can’t wait to knit up these patterns!
Can’t wait to get started on all of these patterns! They’re all so beautiful, it’ll be hard to choose which to start first!
I just can’t get enough lace projects in my life right now! These projects are simply gorgeous! I would really like to make the Mood Cardigan for myself. I’m just going to have to get the Field Guide.
Have never knit lace before but this gives me the COURAGE TO DO IT! 🙂
I’m thinking of ordering this field guide and since I’m a beginner I want to buy yarn from you for the rib lace scarf. Which weight and how many skeins?? I’ll order all at once. Thanks. I watched the first video.