Let The Hairpin Lace Project Begin!

Hello friends. I am off to a slow start with my blog posts this year. I've had a bad case of the suds. If you have children, you might think that this is a disease only SpongeBob can catch, but I'm here to tell you, it's not so. I don't have any of the traditional symptoms of cold or flu and yet, I've been feeling hopelessly run down. I'm sure my resolution to kick my caffeine habit hasn't helped my lethargy.

Okay, now that I have my whining out of the way, on to hairpin lace. In my last post, I talked about the book Crochet Master Class and my plans to explore some areas of crochet that are new for me. Well, suds or no suds, there's no time like the present, so yesterday I went out in search of a hairpin lace tool. After hunting through the yarn accessories section of Joann Fabrics three times, I finally found one of two hairpin lace kits by Boye. They were well hidden and I colored myself lucky that they were even a stocked item. It's a pretty far cry from using real hairpins, but the Boye Hairpin Lace Kit does provide the ability to adjust my width which is what I need for my pattern.

My adventure in hairpin lace making begins on page 26 of Crochet Master Class with the project called Feather and Fan Cardi Wrap. I'm making the L/XL size and using Lion Brand's Amazing yarn in the color Wildflowers. It's the same weight as the pattern suggests and I just happen to have enough on hand. I'm also using a size D crochet hook just as the pattern indicates. The first step is to make hairpin lace strips. For my first strip the tool is set at a width of 2.5" and I'm to make a strip 71.25" long or which contains 676 loops. Now this is the total number of loops on both edges, so each edge will have 338 loops.

On pages 23-25 of the book, a tutorial on how to make hairpin lace is provided. It took me no time at all to figure out, but you know me, I also sought out video confirmation. Off to YouTube I went and after typing hairpin lace into the search box, I clicked on the video at the top of the list entitled Hairpin Lace: Part 1 Beginning. This is not the slickest looking video, but it provides a good, close-up look at how to get started. I also prefer the video's suggestion of starting with a slip knot on your hook rather than tying the yarn onto the tool. It feels more like what a natural crocheter would do.

As you can see, I'm off and running. I have 72 loops so far and it won't be long before I have to slide the beginning portion of my lace off of the tool to make room for more. It's probably because this is new for me, but I'm a little concerned about my loops staying neat and not getting tangled especially since this yarn has a bit of a mohair quality. I'm thinking that I'll use safety pins as stitch markers to help me keep count and keep the loops nice and orderly.

Well that's all for today. I'll be back with updates as I progress. When I start my next lace strip, I'll take some pictures of how to get started and how to make the lace itself. Basically, if you can single crochet, you can make hairpin lace. Things will get really interesting when the time comes to edge and join my lace strips!

Related Posts:
Crochet Master Class ~ The Latest Addition to My Library
Let The Hairpin Lace Project Begin!
The Hairpin Lace Project Continues...
How to Begin a Strip of Hairpin Lace ~ A Photo Tutorial
The Hairpin Lace Project ~ Part Trois
The Hairpin Lace Project ~ I found Yarn B!
The Hairpin Lace Project ~ Part IV