Russian Lace Knitting

Lately I've been noticing lots of Russian stuff around me - multiple Russian mobsters on Law and Order reruns, a movie called "Eastern Promises" with Viggo Mortensen (more Russian mobsters, jail tattoos, very violent, graphic sex), and most important - Orenburg Lace knitting.  My friend Ann is taking a class in August with Galina Khmeleva, owner of Skaska Designs and co-author of "Gossamer Webs, the History and Techniques of Orenburg Lace Shawls".  (Amazon only has the book from private sellers at $80 and $250- don't buy it from them, get it from the author at the link above for Skaska Designs, for less than $30).  I have been interested in this lace for awhile because of its beauty and history.  There are several Piecework magazine articles on this lace, most written by Galina Khmeleva.

• Sept Oct 2000 article about history and “Gossamer Webs” and a warm shawl pattern

• Sept Oct 2002 triangular warm shawl pattern

• May June 2008 lace scarf with “bow tie” pattern

• Nov Dec 2008 red lace cap pattern

• May June 2009 article tribute to Olga A Federova and an Indian Shawl pattern

• July Aug 2010 an Orenburg Sampler to Knit

Also, by other authors:

• May June 1995 snowflake motif scarf (Dixie Falls & Jane Fournier)

• Nov Dec 2009 Meteliza (blizzard) scarf (Inna Voltchkova)

 I've started a scarf from the Falls and Fournier article in black Jagger Zephyr (merino and silk) on size 2 needles.

You knit the border at one end, then you pick up the stitches along the edge of the border and knit the side borders and the central panel of the scarf at the same time.  At the other end, you knit another border and graft it to the body of the scarf.
Galina has another book "The Gossamer Webs Design Collection" which has instructions for knitting a small (handerchief sized) sample of a shawl, stitch patterns, and directions for a triangular scarf, a larger rectangular scarf, and a full sized shawl.  In the traditional manner, you cast on the border and knit it, use short rows to turn the lower right corner, pick up stitches along the edge of the border for the central panel, pick up the cast on stitches at the beginning of the border,  and turn the lower left corner.  You then knit the shawl with the borders continuing up both sides.  At the end of the shawl, you use short rows to knit the upper right corner, then you knit only the top border sideways onto the body of the shawl, knit the upper left corner and graft the short edge of the top border to the right side border.  Although this sounds incredibly complicated, once you get it on the needles its not too scary.  I made the sample shawl for a doll - unfortunately its at school so I can't take a picture of it for you. 
One of my favorite tidbits of Orenburg history is that tradition has it that the first shawl of this type was made by a women who sent it to Catherine the Great of Russian (1729 - 1796).  The empress liked it so much that she gave the women enough money to live comfortably forever.  However, to ensure that no one else would have a shawl like hers, she had the woman blinded.  Fortunately for the knitters of the world, the woman had previously taught her daughter how to knit, so the technique was not lost.
In honor of all this Russian serendipity, and in memory of my great grandmother, from Odessa, Russia, I made a big pot of Borscht, watched some more Law and Order reruns, and knit. 

Personal Bibliography of Lace Knitting Books
       These are in no particular order and are all excellent resources.  

• Knitting Lace:  A Workshop with Patterns and Projects, Susanna E. Lewis, Taunton Books, 1992.
• Knitting Lace Triangles, Evelyn A. Clark, Fiber Trends, Inc., 2007
• Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls, Martha Waterman, Interweave Press, 1998.
• Knitted Lace of Estonia: Techniques, Patterns and Traditions, Nancy Bush, Interweave Press, 2008
• Victorian Lace Today, Jane Sowerby, XRX Books, 2006
• Shawls and Scarves: the Best of Knitters Magazine, Nancy Thomas, XRX Books, 1999
• Folk Shawls:  25 Knitting Patterns and Tales from Around the World, Cheryl Oberle, Interweave Press, 2000
• Stahmans's Shawls and Scarves:  Lace Faroese-Shaped Shawls, Myrna Stahman, Rocking Chair Press, 2000

Happy Knitting!