If one Niebling is good, aren’t two even better? I made my first Niebling table covering (doily??) a couple of years ago. It was knit out of laceweight alpaca — not a very practical doily. I had it in mind to knit another, and I finally did. I chose Lotus Flower, because I thought it was very beautiful. The pattern is readily available on Ravelry by Doilyhead. I used Aunt Lydia Crochet Cotton Size 10. Cheap stuff you can buy at Joann Fabrics. After reading this discussion, I probably would have chosen differently…but, it is too late now and it seemed to have worked out fine.
Lotus Flower by Herbert Niebling, Aunt Lydia Crochet Cotton ~1200 yards, US 1(2.25 mm) Needles
I did need to starch it, which was traumatic to think about but easy to do. I had to starch it: after just wet blocking, it became a limp rag that did not hold its shape properly. I immersed it in a 50-50 solution of Sta-Flo liquid starch and water and then pinned it out on a piece of styrofoam insulation. This worked out great…getting the insulation to my car was a comedy of errors, but that is a different story!! Don’t attempt this feat on the windiest day of the year!
Believe it or not, this was my “take-along” knitting project! The even rounds were straight knitting of up to 1200 sts. The pattern rounds were often simple repetitions that were easy to follow because the pattern is so pictorial. Still, it took a couple of months to complete.
Lotus Flower Overall Grade: A
Pattern: A — nice “starter” Niebling
Yarn: A — though there are probably higher quality choices out there
Finished Size: 40 inches in diameter
All in all, I am very pleased and highly recommend this pattern. I am without a knitting project! I just finished a Holden Shawlette, which I will post later…but now my needles are bare! I have a few ideas, but the project has not revealed itself to me. Hmmmm…
PS to Surly: NO, it will NOT fit into your suitcase!
PS2: I did need to join a second ball and also join within the first ball because it had a knot tying more length onto the ball. I spit spliced it.
PS3: Bonnie asked about spit splicing and how it works on non-wool fibers. I “spit splice” all kinds of yarn, but that doesn’t mean that I felt them together: I thin out each end, overlap and suck on the yarn — very appealing in public!! I do this with almost every yarn I use. If the ends are difficult to blend, I let them hang to the inside and then I sometimes weave them in or just cut them. I had absolutely no trouble with the crochet cotton at all and the ends were completely smooth and the transition invisible. I make sure I overlap the ends over several sts and never when a YO is involved. In this pattern there were long stockinette areas where I could easily splice my thread.
