To bead or not to bead
June 6, 2011
Beading. This is a shawl design that will (if all goes to plan) be released as a Limited Edition Kit in June/July (and then, some time next year, downloadable from Ravelry as usual).
Beading. It is … just a little trying for those of us with limited patience. But I do love the deep cobalt blue beads against what must be the perfect purple, a purple that shifts subtly from pale almost silvery lilac to something quite saturated and intense.
Back to beading. Without my pack of Oral-B’s SuperFloss and this technique (but using floss instead of wire) pedagogically and patiently explained and illustrated by the übertalented designer and knitter Rosemary (Romi) Hill, I would be at sea with my beads.
And I must sing the praises of my bead supplier, Pärltorget, a Swedish (online) shop with a rich selection and brilliant selection tools — you can narrow your choice down in all sorts of ways (size, quality, lining, colour, shape, finish). Very useful. Customer service is more than impressive and very friendly. And she is sending me a little, teeny crochet hook. I think beading will be more pleasant with a proper tool like that. And faster, which is good for impatient souls.
Time to do some serious knitting. It’s looking good!
I need to prove to sceptics that beaded shawls are nothing like those beaded (for special occasions) granny hair nets. Oh, but maybe it is a little hair-net-like, after all… Eek!
June 9, 2011 at 6:40 pm
Pretty beads. I prefer adding beads using a crochet hook. I haven’t tried dental floss though.
June 7, 2011 at 1:46 am
I invented a similar method that I think is much better, so I want to share it with you. Instead of wire, use a dental floss threader. It even has a loop on the end if it so you can stack a bunch of beads on it without them falling off. Just bend the end .5″ with your fingers to make a hook. No pliers needed! Here’s a link to what it looks like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13751387@N08/3101782738
June 7, 2011 at 9:57 am
Thanks for the link! But it’s really your brilliant method I am using — as you’ll see if you look more closely at the text above. Not that the text warrants such closer looking, but nevertheless. Unlike yours, though, my floss (SuperFloss) is a boring white… Thanks again for the link! Oh, and now I see you’re a Katie I know — I haven’t forgotten about the Brownies… life has just been a bit too interesting to squeeze in also brownie recipes. Beads yes, brownies no. But soon. /å.
June 7, 2011 at 1:15 am
Intrigued….beads are on my agenda for learning something new….however it is the lace that really takes me….really, really pretty.
June 6, 2011 at 8:27 pm
Simply beautiful! It gets me every time – and I haven’t tried it myself yet : BLOCKING! A knitted item that is completely transformed by blocking into an out-of-this-world beauty. Another stunner and I am sooo behind with your pretty patterns …. …. KnitChick7/Birgit
June 6, 2011 at 4:25 pm
That is SOOOO pretty.
June 6, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Thank you, dear Natalie!
åsa