Knitting with lace weight yarn

dturner · 03-26-2012, 10:41 PM

I have never knitted with lace weight yarn before. I just started a shawl using Kauni lace weight yarn. Although it is knitting up beautifully, the yarn is so thin in places that it breaks. I am trying to be very careful not to tug on the yarn. This has happened several times already, and I don't think I have the patience to deal with this problem throughout the project. Is this often a problem with lace weight yarn? Am I doing something wrong, or is the yarn defective?

I am making the Swallowtail shawl using size 4 needles, if that makes a difference.

suzeeq · 03-27-2012, 05:05 AM

Some yarns are more fragile than others. I'm not sure if this one is, or if you have a bad skein.

Jan in CA · 03-27-2012, 06:02 AM

Kauni makes a couple lace weight yarns. Which one do you have?

RochesterKnitter · 03-27-2012, 11:52 AM

Even if you are not tugging on the yarn, you can get a lot of friction if your skein/ball is on a rough surface (fabric, upholstery, carpet). Make sure your skein/ball is on a surface with as little friction as possible (bowl, plastic bag) and as close to your side as possible.

dturner · 03-27-2012, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by Jan in CA

Kauni makes a couple lace weight yarns. Which one do you have?

It's 8/1 100% wool. The colors are lovely!

dturner · 03-27-2012, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by RochesterKnitter

Even if you are not tugging on the yarn, you can get a lot of friction if your skein/ball is on a rough surface (fabric, upholstery, carpet). Make sure your skein/ball is on a surface with as little friction as possible (bowl, plastic bag) and as close to your side as possible.

Thanks! I'll try that.

Jan in CA · 03-28-2012, 01:05 AM

There's only 3 comments on the yarn on Ravelry and all 3 say it breaks so you're not alone.

dturner · 03-28-2012, 01:28 AM

Thanks for checking that, Jan. I should have thought to do that before I ordered the yarn! I just wasn't sure if that was a common problem with lace weight yarn. I have seen a few projects on Ravelry knitted with "cobweb" yarn. I can't even imagine how thin that stuff must be! I have knitted a shawl using Kauni fingering weight (8/2 if I remember correctly). The shawl turned out lovely, but the yarn became very thin in places. Still, it never broke. Oh, well... Thanks for everyone's advice!

suzeeq · 03-28-2012, 01:33 AM

It's not common with laceweights, just seems to be a Kauni problem in general if the fingering was a bit thin too.

Jan in CA · 03-28-2012, 04:26 AM

One project I'm knitting right now is with Ella Rae Lace Merino. It's actually fingering weight, but it's spun evenly and is so soft and beautiful!