Knitted Lace Project

Recently I had some ideas for knitted pants and shorts, and I realized I didn't really have all the skills to make them. For one thing, I know how to make my own size, by working off my own pants and body, but I don't really know how to make other sizes. That's OK if they are just for me, but not if I want to sell the pattern. For another thing, I can knit lace from a pattern, of course, but I'm not that strong at coming up with my own knitted lace designs. I decided to work on my lace skills first, since that seems a lot more fun to me. I made a cowl for my best friend heather, and I am making other lace designs into a dishcloth series.
Here is the cowl on my mom:

My knit lace cowl design

And here are some of the dishcloths I've made, some more successful than others:

From top left moving clockwise: Cat's Eye, Honeycomb, Fir Cone, Cross Stitch

I tried making a table runner from cotton thread but I ran into a couple hitches. Number 1, I was making it in black and I like to craft in front of my computer so I can listen to podcasts at the same time. (Favorite 2 podcasts=Doug Loves Movies and The Moth) Unfortunately, the lighting isn't strong enough to see the black thread very well. Number 2, I only have metal needles in the right size and they were really annoying. Number 3, holy crap knitting size 10 thread is slow going! I think I did about 1/2 inch per hour. Of course that was at the same time as I was trying to learn the pattern, but I don't think it would ever get much faster, at least for that particular pattern. Numbers 1 and 2 could be solved with a trip to the store, but the lace went so slowly, that I abandoned it. I will try again with size 3 thread when I get better lights. I did try to buy new lights but I couldn't remember what size to get when I was at the store.
Here's a look at my crafting station:

"Crafting" Station

-Jennifer