FO: When Beading and Knitting Collide

 Finally I've found a way to combine two of my favorite activities:

Yes, this bracelet was knitted with beads.

The pattern is from Beaded Bracelets to Knit, a Leisure Arts booklet by Leslieann Beller. It's a great little booklet with clear directions.

All the projects are knit with DMC metallic embroidery thread, which is both the key to success and the hardest part. Unlike cotton embroidery thread, the threads in the metallic stuff come apart and then tangle quite easily. I had about 5 false starts before I gained a feel for using this thread.
 The process is quite simple: string beads onto the thread, cast on three stitches, and knit all stitches except the ones with beads, which you purl. 

I used a motley selection of beads from my collection. You have to make sure they all have big enough holes to slide onto the thread. 

I found I needed to use a fairly tight tension to make sure the beads are firmly attached. For some reason, that process makes my right elbow hurt! For that reason, I can't turn these out as fast as I'd like to!

A Brave Woman

Is there anything braver than projecting unflattering pictures of oneself onto a screen in front of a couple hundred people? Short of fighting the Taliban in Afganistan, I'm not sure there is.

Which makes Amy Herzog an extremely brave woman!

Amy was the March speaker for the Madison Knitting Guild, and she was fabulous. Her specialty is customizing sweaters to flatter ANY body shape. And she is very clear: all bodies are equal, none of this good or bad stuff for Amy.

This is a woman who practices what she preaches. She shows pictures of her own body -- rather straight lines, heavy in the thighs, short legs -- in unflattering clothing. Then shows how we can use clothing to achieve the look we want. That's her in the photo above; doesn't she look great?

Not being much of a sweater knitter (yet!), I don't feel I can describe the technical aspects of knitting sweaters that flatter -- but you can pre-order her book, Knit to Flatter, on Amazon.com. I can tell you that she has some fascinating ways of shaping that really work.

If I ever prove I can knit a sweater, I'll definitely want it on my shelf!

Pluggin' Along

I am still plugging away at my Crayon Box Jacket. I need breaks from it because knitting the squares can be a bit tedious. However, for the most part I'm enjoying it.

I've done quite a lot of the knitting to Downtown Abbey, season 3, which has been streaming on PBS. However, I didn't watch fast enough, and now I can't watch the final episode -- the one everyone talks about! Apparently the episodes only streamed for a limited time.

I've also been knitting to Game of Thrones, which Keith and I are very absorbed in. I don't usually like fantasy fiction, but this really stands out. Amazing plot and characters. I tried reading the first book, but I don't like fantasy enough to put that much time into it.

I blogged twice last week, and I'm aiming for at least three posts this week. We'll see if I can manage it.

I'm (A Little Bit) Famous

A while ago I mentioned that some of my work was going to be published in a crafting magazine that I really respect. Without further ado:

The clothes are from thrift stores and the embroidery is all my own original designs. I don't think I could have been so brave with brand-new clothes! I really enjoyed the freedom of embroidering on a surface I didn't have to worry about ruining. I put in the outline first and filled in without much planning.

There is nothing fancy about the embroidery. I use DMC brand embroidery floss, which comes in the most beautiful colors. I did consult a lot of books for interesting stitches to incorporate.

I did most of the work last summer, and strangely I haven't done any embroidery since. I have some ideas, but haven't had the time to plan a project.

I've been drawing the dancing ladies for years, but wasn't sure where they were going to end up.
Oh -- I almost forgot -- here's the magazine:

It is on newsstands now!

Love Those Colors But ...

Wow, another week has gone by without a post, and I'm feeling sad about that. It's the result of continuing craziness at school and the fact that my dad is still recovering from the fall he took in October. I always thought that life would be calmer once my kids were out of the house. I was wrong about that! Besides, I miss those two.

But there has been knitting. I realized that I haven't ever knit a pair of socks for my dear friend Debbie, so I had to get right on that. I pulled out a skein of Poems Sock yarn by Wisdom Yarn, an impulse buy at the last Knitting Guild meeting I attended. It's a rustic yarn with beautiful long color changes.

The yarn is a bit splitty, but not unmanageable. However, it seems awfully thick at some points -- sort of like knitting socks with lace-weight. It occurred to me to look up the yarn on Ravelry. I really need to do that before I buy yarn! There is nothing like the wisdom of other knitters. They also complained about the thinness, but more worryingly, they noted that it breaks easily and many said they'd never use it for socks. However, some knitters were perfectly happy with the socks they made.

What do to???

Crazy Timing for a Hat

The last month has been kind of crazy. Too many long days at school. My dad is still recovering from his fall last October. But mostly, just school. All to often I come home and melt onto the couch.

However, there has been knitting, including this:

It's a Rikke Hat, designed by Happy Knits. You can find it here.

It's actually my second one. The first was sent out as a birthday gift to my sister-in-law, Mary. Hers was green and mine is (obviously) red, but both are knit from Madelinetosh Merino DK. Unfortunately, I failed to snap a FO of her gift. Suffice it to say that I loved the pattern so much I had to make one for me.

Even though it's almost spring here, I'm knitting a wool hat. Oh well. It's perfect TV knitting -- and that's been all I've been up for many nights!

My New Vanilla Sock

Sometimes it's hard to choose between form and function. Most knitted items are meant to be used, so I want to produce something useful and sturdy. But knitting is also about beauty. About color and texture and lovely yarn.

However, in the case of socks, I'm trying something new for my go-to socks. A few people have told me that the plain stockinette socks just don't stay up as well as they should. So, I'm doing a k2-p2 pattern instead. I suspect it will be a more practical sock.

But, alas, it seems a bit of a waste to use self-striping yarn (Flamingo in Shepherd Sock, Lorna's Laces), but I'm going to stick with it and see if this might be a better basic sock.

Any thoughts?

Valentine's Day is Coming Up

While this idea is not original, I still love these hearts. I thought I might gift a few to some special people in my life.

A few decades ago, Tory Hughes pioneered the methods for using polymer clay to make faux natural materials -- faux corral, faux turquoise, and faux ivory and bone -- the later of which I borrowed for these hearts. I especially like the idea of using polymer clay instead of using precious materials like corral and ivory.

One thing I really love about these pendants is that they are easy to wear -- they match so many different color schemes and they are casual enough to wear every day.

Perhaps A Little Forethought Would Have Been a Good Idea

A few weeks ago, I began a sweater with great excitement. You can see it here. I was exciting about picking out the colors, that I kind of rushed into it. Now I am having huge second thoughts.

For one thing, I think that the sleeves are a little too wild in terms of color:

I'm trying to tone it down for the body. You can see in the top photo that I'm using only one hue for each square.

In my rush, I forgot about a little thing called gauge. For reasons I can't explain, it looks like the body will be OK, but the sleeves seem too small. This is what keeps me from sweaters: too risky!

I wish I could spend my afternoon knitting. It's 13 degrees outside, and I'm just not up to braving the cold to go walking or skiing -- either of which would do me some good. However, I have some work to do, so I think I'll make a cup of tea and dig in.

Other People's Designs

In knitting, I never have mixed feelings about using a pattern written by someone else. In fact, that is the only way I do knit. I don't feel that I understand the architecture of knitting well enough to design knitted items. Besides, there are SO many great designs out there that I want to knit; I have no motivation to create my own.

For some reason, I feel differently about jewelry. I do love making my own polymer clay beads and putting together original designs, but I also love making other people's designs. Like the one pictured: Cubism Refined, a bracelet pattern published in the December 2012 issue of Bead & Button magazine.

I love the way it turned out so much that I've bought materials to make a few more in different colors. I couldn't resist stocking up. The owner of my local bead store is retiring, so everything in the store is on sale!

 The closure is so clever: Pearls are used to secure the beads to the clasp.