How to add beads to your knitting

There are several ways to incorporate beads into your knitting, but this tutorial illustrates how to place beads using a tiny crochet hook.  This is a neat and tidy method which results in beads which sit upright over a single stitch.  It is also the method used in my Photosynthesis Shawl pattern.

Materials:
- #6 beads
- 0.6mm crochet hook

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When using a crochet hook to place beads, you place them individually, just before you knit the stitch. They sit on the stitch, with the entire loop of the stitch pulled through the bead, and then you knit the stitch normally, which locks the bead in place within the work.

1. Knit along until you reach the stitch which will be beaded, and stop before you knit it.

2. Insert the crochet hook into the bead to pick it up.

3. Using the hook, pick the stitch off the left-hand needle, and allow the bead to slide down the shaft of the crochet hook, and over the stitch.

the bead is now in place over the stitch

4. Once the bead is over the stitch, place the stitch back on to the left-hand needle.

5. Lastly, simply knit the stitch (which now has a bead on it) as usual.

 

How to wet block your knitting

Blocking serves to relax the stitches into a more uniform and flowing fabric. With knitted lace it is almost essential, as it stretches the work open, and reveals the pattern, and once the fabric has dried, it will more or less hold the shape it was blocked out to. But I find even with plain stockinette stitch, it completely changes the finished product, so for me, it’s definitely worth the effort.

I always wet-block my knitting, as I find it most effective.

To do this, I follow a few simple steps:

unblocked stockinette stitch square - curls at edges, not at all flat

1. Cast off your knitted article, and weave in the ends. For the most invisible weaving in of ends, I unwind the yarn into plies, and then with a very sharp darning needle, I skim through the purl bumps on the back of the work (or with lace, I try to work through back side of the most solid parts of the pattern), piercing the yarn to draw the ply through several inches of knitted fabric. Then I trim the ends. Note that on the sample I’m using for this tutorial, I didn’t bother to weave in my ends, but usually I would.

soaking in water

2. Immerse the piece into a bowl or sink of lukewarm water, adding wool wash or hair conditioner if you please. Let it soak there for 20 mins or longer, and squeeze it gently to push all the air bubbles out of the yarn.

squeeze out water

3. Lift the work out of the water, and gently squeeze as much water out of it as you can. Do not wring the piece, as this will put too much tension on it, and could damage your knitting. With very delicate fibres, be even more gentle.

roll up in a towel

4. Lay the damp knitting out on a towel, and roll it up inside the towel.

stomp on towel

5. Stomp on the rolled up towel, until most of the water has been squeezed out of the knitting. It may be necessary to use a second towel if the first gets too wet.

pin out to correct dimensions

6. Pin the damp knitted fabric out on a flat surface. I use a piece of cardboard, but there are products created specifically with blocking in mind. I use regular sewing pins with coloured heads, and haven’t ever had a problem with rusting, however, some people recommend stainless steel pins. Pin the work out to the desired size, and leave it until it is completely bone dry.

finished product

7. Unpin and you’re done!

Further info on other methods of blocking can be found at:

 

Fiddlehead Mittens

Pattern: Fiddlehead Mittens by Adrian Bizilia of Helloyarn.com
Yarn: Michell & CIA Luxury Collection Alpaca Cashmere – 1 ball of 5 contrast colours, and 2 balls of navy
Needles: US 2/3.0 mm HiyaHiya 9″ circular, and 2.75mm knitpicks circular
Finished Dimensions: 7 1/2″ around palm above thumb
Started: April 14 2009
Finished: May 23 2009

I loved this knit – such a wonderful project, and amazing results.  The yarn is a little bit on the thin side for the project, and so the mittens aren’t large enough for me to line, but I’m very happy with them nonetheless.  I realized pretty early that I’d need to add an extra repeat of the pattern in order to make the mittens long enough.  On the first mitten, on the left, I made an error, and the extra fiddlehead pattern wasn’t in the right direction.  I also flipped over the chart for the pointy end of the mitten, so it would curl inward.  Also, on the second mitten I swapped out the colour order, which made it more fun to knit.

 

Rocketry Baby Cardigan

Pattern: Rocketry Baby Cardigan by Lindsay Pekny
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy (100% superwash merino wool) 1 oz each colour, 2 oz border colour
Needles: US 8/5.0 mm and US 6/4.00 mm Knitpicks circulars
Finished Dimensions: 20″ around body, to fit 6-9 month old
Started: April 16 2009
Finished: April 20 2009

I just recently knocked out this adorable little baby cardi as a shop sample for Urban Yarns.  I had seen Rocketry and Tulip on blogs and always wanted to knit one, and the yarn was also tempting, so all in all this was a very fun and satisfying knit.  Baby things are sooooo quick and easy!  I followed the pattern exactly, and I didn’t make any modifications.  The shop is selling these as kits, so I had to knit one to test that there would be enough yarn included.

The pattern is a seamless top-down knit, which is shaped by increases along raglan ’seam’ lines.  This makes it a VERY easy, no-fuss knit.  In the end, there is absolutely no seaming to be done, just several ends to be woven in.

I think the little heart buttons are an adorable finishing touch!  I would be VERY happy to knit with this yarn again in the future – it has such wonderfully subtle shifts in colour, and knits up into a very plump, satisfyingly squishy fabric.  I can’t wait until I have friends with babies to knit for!

 

Laminaria

So I had decided that as part of my knitter’s development it was time to knit a shawl.  Note, this is not a stole, but an authentically ‘get your granny on’ triangular shawl.  Though this undertaking involved the obvious danger of looking ridiculous, I had seen many photos of hip young people wearing shawls such as this like scarves, and figured I could pull it off!  So I dyed some recycled cashmere, and eventually cast on!  Laminaria (a free pattern from Knitty.com) was an absolute joy to knit, and I got through it in 4 days!  I took the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria and got a lot of knitting time in both ways, so that helped.

My husband and I had to sleep on the couch one night so that I could block the shawl out on our futon!!  The yarn is approximately fingering weight, and I used a 5mm needle, and it required approximately 500 yds.

unblocked shawl

 

Examining Knit Decreases: K2tog, SSK, and Sl2-K1,P2sso

I recently have become interested in the exact form that increases and decreases take.  I’d like to build up a better understanding, so that I can choose the best increase or decrease for a given situation, and get the effect that I desire.  So I’ve been swatching a bit.  This first swatch shows paired decreases.  In this swatch, I’m just looking at the way the fabric looks when you decrease with right-leaning decreases (K2tog) or left-leaning decreases (SSK) or with a symmetrical central decrease (Sl2-K1-P2sso).

This one is the result of a left-leaning decrease, knit stitch, then right-leaning decrease.  It was created by doing: SSK, K1, K2tog, which I repeated every right side row.  I think it is interesting to note that the K2togs (on the right side of the central knit stitch) are much more invisible/integrated into the fabric than the corresponding SSK decreases, which do not seem to lie as flat.

This one is the result of the opposite – a right-leaning decrease, then knit stitch, then left-leaning decrease.  It was created by doing: K2tog, K2, SSK, on every right side row.  Instead of being quite flat, this pairing of decreases creates a dominant line which actually stands proud of the adjacent knit fabric.

The third section is a symmetrical central double decrease; Sl2-K1-P2sso.  This is worked by slipping 2 stitches, knitwise, at the same time (as if you were going to K2tog), then knitting the next stitch, and then passing the 2 slipped stitches over the knitted stitch and off the needles.  It is similar to the previous swatch in that it is a strong vertical line which stands proud of the surrounding fabric.  In this case I have worked the Sl2-K1-P2sso decrease every right-side row.

 

Hats and Spinning

OK, I know it’s positively depressing, the lack of knitting that has been posted on this blog of late.  So though it’s not terribly exciting, I have for you: Noro Silk Garden, knit up into a garter-brim hat.  I loved working with this yarn, which is a joy, and I enjoyed this simple hat pattern I ‘designed’, especially as I made a couple of modifications the second time.

Secondly, I’ve started on YET another hat, knit from Malabrigo Merino Worsted, which until my employment at Urban Yarns, I had not tried.  MMMMmmm it is lovely to knit with (like butter), but I fear it will pill and wear quickly.  But I’m withholding judgment for later.

So of course, I’ve also been spinning!

And loving the results – though they are but meagre.  Upper left is a single-ply mystery-wool that came in a box from a friend of my mom’s, and which I dyed into intense (offensive?) pink, purples and blue – about DK weight, and 170 yds.  To the right is 2-ply, fingering weight merino, spun from tiny balls of roving I bought at a lovely artistan’s shop during my bike trip of the oregon coast (december 08).  It’s about 40 grams, and 130 yds.  At the bottom is ‘wildflowers’ a single-ply silk which I hand-dyed and spun, also procured from the box of mystery handed down to me by a spinning friend of my mother’s.  I have TONNES more silk to spin, but I am seriously lacking the skills to do it effectively.  This little skein, ~ 100 yds, is uber lovely, though, I must say (so modest!).

 

How to hand-wind a centre-pull ball of yarn

To wind a centre-pull ball of yarn by hand:

yarn spaghetti

1. First, unwind a skein (hank) of yarn using either a swift, or just by draping the skein over my knees, and gradually unwinding it and dropping it loosely onto the floor, or into a paper bag or box, so that it forms a loose pile of yarn spaghetti.  If you have pets or children, I think the best thing to do is to drop it into a bag or box, so the critters can’t tangle it up.

2. Holding the end of the yarn with your thumb, begin to wrap the yarn around 2 fingers, several times in one direction, then switching the angle at which the wraps are made every so often.

3. Continue winding until you have a little ball on your fingers, and then take your fingers out, and put your thumb into the centre hole, and then continue to wrap the yarn, turning the ball every so often to wrap at a new angle.

Wrap gently, being careful not to make too tight a ball, as this will put strain on the yarn.

Be sure to always have the yarn end poking out of the centre, and be careful not to lose it by wrapping over it.

4. Eventually you will run out of yarn, and have a lovely hand-wound centre-pull ball of yarn!

For most types of yarn, it works to pull from the centre of this type of ball, and this also allows for 2 strands of yarn to be held together from the same ball, or for 2 pieces of knitting to be worked from a single ball (for example, when knitting 2 pairs of socks at the same time from a single ball).

However, some delicate or ’sticky’ yarns, such as mohair or lace-weight silk yarn can be difficult to pull from the centre, as their strands tend to stick together and tangle.  In these cases, it is best to knit from the outside of the ball.

Enjoy your lovely hand-wound balls!

 

Sock dyeing party!

Last night I had friends over to dye some sock yarn:

It turned out so wonderfully!!  I can’t wait to see how all these luscious colours knit up!  We had a yummy meal, and then started mixing up the dyes, and painting them on the kitchen floor.

 

Undersea Cashmere

This is the most luscious cashmere I’ve ever seen, and I’m SO happy with the colour I’ve achieved.

It’s 600 yds, on 3 skeins, and it’s a little heavier than a standard lace weight, but definitely lighter than fingering.

I’m planning on making it into Laminaria, a beautiful shawl published on Knitty.com.  I’m not sure yet whether I will knit it holding this yarn single stranded, for a lighter effect, or double stranded for something more like a DK weight.  I think I’ll swatch it both ways, and see what I like best.