monday morning knits: Which stitch to pick?

MMKnit Tip

When the Needle's Too Big for the Bead!

This is a problem I’ve recently come across as I’ve gotten into working beads into some of my knitting to give it an extra sense of allure and depth. I grabbed my handy Chibi set, got out the smallest needle, threaded my fingering weight yarn and slipped the first bead on only for it to get stuck at the eye of the needle! What do I do?

I tried a sewing needle – couldn’t get my yarn through the eye. I attempted the old scotch tape at the end of the strand bit only to be turned away again. I even took a twist-tie, stripped off all the green paper and attempted to fashion a needle. Once again, rejected.

But then, I struck gold (45 minutes after I had begun this circus act)! I cut off a length of the heavy-duty thread upon which the beads were threaded, tied a simple, single-knot securely around my yarn leaving a six-inch tail and then began to slide the beads on. I had to use minimal force to get the bead over the knot. I was ready to go in no time!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Which stitch to pick?

In a recent design, I came upon a problem that to me is not so bad to have. I began knitting the Picture Day Perfect Knit Vest with a vision in my head of what the finished outcome would be. Perfectly reasonable and, quite honestly, hard to not do. However, as I finished the front and then was well into the back I found that I was having a hard time deciding which was the right side (aka "RS" or the public side). By the time I finished and seamed together the front and the back I found myself in quite a conundrum...which is best? As you can see below they both look great. If you were 18 months old and your mom dressed you in this incredibly adorable (if I do say so myself) vest, what side would you want all your friends to see? Which do you think is "Picture Day Perfect"?

Option A: Hori