After finishing my Confluence Shawlette I thought it would be fun to share the beading technique that Designer, Sivia Harding calls for in the pattern.

Before I got started on this shawelette I indulged in the purchase of some beautiful beads and a new set of tools! I love this set of interchangeable head crochet hooks by Boye. It is just perfect for beading and comes in a handy case, which I also love.


On to the show.

1.    Work the stitch that you intend to have bead sitting on. In this case I knit that stitch and it is sitting on my right hand needle.


2.   Slip the worked stitch back to the left hand needle. Now comes the exciting part!


3.    Grab that cool, tiny headed crochet hook and place a bead on it. Slip the stitch you have worked off the left hand needle and onto the crochet hook and pull the yarn through the bead.  This may take a little wiggling of the hook to get it through the bead and the yarn may split a little, but pull it through and clean it up a little after  the stitch is through the bead. You may want to play around with the size options on the crochet hook tip to figure out the best fit for the yarn you are using and the bead size.


4.    Place the stitch with the bead back on the right hand needle and pull on your yarn to firm up the stitch a little and center out the bead. Voila! Bead in Knitting!



Author: bluegirl -  Date: 02 Feb 2011 11:11 -  Tags: tutorials,recreational knitting
Visits: 1891 -  No Comments  

I decided about a month ago to knit this fantastic design from Debbie O'Neil in Knitscene, Fall 2009 called the Heather Hoodie Vest after a customer brought it to my attention (thank you Marie). I also decided to use a yarn that I had stashed a while ago with my friend Julia. Lady Julia (as I like to call her) and I had an online yarn accident together and saved on shipping by each ordering a bag of Cascade Yarns 109 LE Bulky. Julia used hers up a while ago and mine has been looking at me longingly from the yarn bookshelf.

I finished the back. I finished the fronts. I did the ole 3 needle bind-off at the shoulders, sewed up the side seams and read the instructions for picking up sts at the sleeve and that's when it hit me. The ribbing at the bottom of the back piece was absolutely wrong...*&(@)?!

The ribbing is supposed to be a 3 x 2 (as in knit 3, purl 2), but mine was a 2 x 3 (as in knit 2, purl 3). I looked at the vest, then I looked at the pattern and then it dawned on me that I had not followed the instructions to work the setup row on the wrong side on the back, but did pay attention on the fronts. So, I had 3 x 2 on the fronts and 2 x 3 on the back. I still had to finish the sleeves which would be 3 x 2 and the ribbing for the button bands and around the hood would also be 3 x 2. Are you catching the theme here? One of these things is not like the others, one of these things doesn't belong...

The wheels started turning immediately in a panic and the options started running through my brain.

1. Undo the 3 needle bind-off and the sewing and rip the entire back out. NOT AN OPTION.

2. Take scissors to the back and put the sts back on the needle and work the ribbing back down the vest in the correct sequence. ICK.

3. Adapt a cool technique from one of my very favorite books. WE HAVE A WINNER.

The book is "The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques" by Margaret Radcliffe and it is truly one of the most magnificent books that I own. It really is essential.  I love picking it up and looking at all the pictures and I love learning about new techniques while dreaming up new knits to make.


The technique that I thought I could use to fix my problem is for working vertical stripes of color to make a knit piece look like plaid. Basically, Ms. Radcliffe shows how to ladder knit stitches up a purl column of stitches with a crochet hook in order to introduce a new color stripe. This technique was the perfect solution to my problem. I had a whole extra purl column that I did not need and lots of extra yarn to ladder up and create "knit" stitches out of unwanted purls.

Here is how it works:

Here is my plain swatch of 3 x 2 ribbing.


You will need a crochet hook that is the same mm size as the knitting needle used on your project. With the right side facing you and at the bottom of the purl column that will become knits, put your crochet hook through the front of the fabric to the back of the fabric. Hold your yarn (I am using a contrasting color to make it easier to see) in a loop and use your crochet hook to pull that loop up to the top of the fabric.



Thank you, thank you, thank you, Margaret Radcliffe!



Author: bluegirl -  Date: 06 Nov 2009 17:15 -  Tags: recreational knitting,tutorials
Visits: 1375 -  Comments: 2