Bring On The Bling!

Everyone was really looking forward to the April meeting's program.  We had a great turnout.  (This program required pre-registration and a small fee.) 

Founding Knitter, Terri Sipes taught us a raft of ways to put beads on our knitting.  Terri provided each of us with a sheet of very clear instructions with photos of Denise's hands, a sample project chart, an 8-yard hank of fingering weight yarn, a US11 steel crochet hook, a dental floss threader, and beads in groups of 18, 9, 5, and 3 by color.  She had asked each of us to provide our own US2 or US 3 needles and a terry towel to corral the beads.  First we threaded the big bunches of beads onto our yarn using the floss threader.  That little thing made it so simple. 

It was pretty easy to knit the swags of our samples with the beads already on the yarn; it just took a bit of concentration to keep the beads on the correct side of the stitch and pretty soon there were 3 triangular bead swags on there.  Then we moved on to the charted part of the sample. 


First up was the Traditional Knitting with Beads Method--pretty simple and the bead is vertical, a bit left-slanted, and sits on top of the fabric. 

Next up was the Slip Stitch Method (I liked this one a lot)--with this one the pre-strung bead
is horizontal and sits on top of the fabric. 

Third came the Beaded Knitting Purl Method (this might have been my favorite)--pre-strung beads lay between purl stitches and are horizontal on your fabric. 

For the Crochet Hook Method you don't pre-string your beads and they are visible on both sides of your knitted fabric; great for a scarf or shawl.  You need to make sure that your hook will go through the hole of the beads you want to use.  All bead holes are not created equal.  Ask Terri. 

To finish off our little sample we had beads to work a picot edge using the Crochet Hook Method.  Everyone worked very hard and Terri and her helper, Denise were lavish with assistance and very patient.  Some of us had never knitted from a chart so there were lots of new things to learn, but we all persevered and everyone went home tired but having learned something new.  Thanks so much, Terri, for all your hard work making the Bling! program easy to follow and so much fun.













Join the BLKG in May for our annual picnic at Vicki and Andy's.  Once again they're providing the venue, the meat and buns, and grilling by Andy.  (Pray for no rain, I don't think he'd get like getting drenched again.)  Members bring a dish to pass, beverage, and a chair.  Check the newsletter or the Yahoo Group Files for particulars as to time and location.

(photos by Mitch)