Thread Lace Alternatives

Lace Type	Main Yarn Feeder	Secondary Yarn Feeder	Result
Lace	Garment yarn	Thin thread in matching color	Lacy fabric, thread barely visible; “normal thread lace”
Lace	Garment yarn	Thin thread or yarn in different shade	Lacy fabric, with heathery look
Felting with fur yarn	Fur	Garment wool yarn	Fur fabric, most of fur shows on purl side
Texture	Garment yarn	Garment yarn	Purl side is right side, resembles tuck but is more subtle
Texture	Fuzzy yarn	Smooth yarn	Knit side is right side, smooth yarn tones down the fuzzy yarn
Texture	Smooth yarn	Fuzzy yarn	Knit side is right side, smooth yarn not visible, appears to be plated
Floats	“Float yarn”	Medium thread in contrast color	Purl side is right side, floats should be no more than one stitch across.

Since thread lace is really a variation of fairisle knitting, just about any stitch pattern can be used. The following criteria should be used when selecting a pattern:

• The number of thread stitches in a row determines the length of the purl side floats. For normal thread lace, this is not a problem. In fact, “pull up” thread lace requires 4 or more stitches.
• The amount of solid area determines the laciness of the material.

Thread/yarn selection varies the end result considerably:

• To maximize the lace look, choose a garment yarn and thread yare in the same color.
• For texture, the garment and yarn and thread yarn should be about the same weight.
• For a 3-D effect on the purl side, the thread yarn should be darker than the garment yarn.

When knitting thread lace, turn end needle selection off. This will cause the end stitches to always knit with both yarns.

On a Brother machine, push in both MC and L buttons on the carriage for thread lace.

The stitch pattern on the left was used for the texture samples. It can also be used with the garter carriage. The stitch pattern on the right (Brother 403) was used for the float sample. The fur sample used the bird’s eye (seed stitch) pattern.