The BadCat Bead Primer

Here is an update on my current "swatch." I am using 2/48 Merino and 8/0 Beads.I thought I would bring in the New Year with a long discussion of beads and lace knitting. I am going to discuss choosing materials to place beads onto you lace knitting using a crochet hook. If you look back to this post, you will see my step-by-step directions for doing this.

People often ask “What beads should I get?” and “What size hook should I get?” and most often “How big a tube of beads should I get?” These questions appear quite straightforward, but the reality is that they don’t have easy answers. To understand how to arrive at an answer to any of these questions, we must look at the variables. This discussion is in no way exhaustive and is just meant to open the subject up for thought.

I suggest you begin your beaded lace knitting using Japanese seed beads. They are uniform in size, shape and (importantly) hole. They also have larger and smoother holes. Gorgeous seed beads are available from other places, but I suggest you save those for later. I have a large selection of beads from all over the world, but I usually choose the Japanese beads when I am knitting lace. The following brands are readily available as both round beads and cylinder beads. I prefer knitting with round beads and bead-weaving with cylinders.

Here is an assortment of beads from my collection.

Japanese Seed Beads: Available brands
Miyuki in various sizes and finishes
Cylinders: Delicas
Matsuno in various sizes and finishes
Cylinders: Dyna-mites
Toho in various sizes and finishes
Cylinders: Treasures and Aikos
Mill Hill in various sizes and finishes
Cylinders: Magnificas

Seed beads come in a variety of sizes and “cuts.” The larger the number the smaller the bead! This is not a complete list…
Japanese Bead Sizes:
15/0=1.5mm-2mm
14/0=1.6mm
12/0=1.9-2.0mm
11/0=2.2mm-2.5mm
10/0=2.3-2.4mm
8/0=3.0m
6/0=3.7-4mm (E beads)
3/0=5.5mm (E beads)

Finishes?
Round holes and square holes
Silver lined and gilt lined
Opaque and transparent
Matt, Ceylon, opal, abalone
Many other choices of color and finish
Avoid color lined beads and dyed beads, because very few are wash-fast, and they might bleed onto your yarn. When in doubt, make a swatch and wash it. Most dyed beads are marked as such when you buy them.

“So how many beads should I get?”
Remember that every brand is different and these figures are very variable. Also note that the tube sizes are not always uniform. The best way to get beads is by weight and not tube, but you won’t always have a choice.
Beads per gram?
11/0 about 120 per gram
15/0 about 250 per gram
Delicas (12/0) about 200 per gram
6 inch tube about 30 grams of beads

Beads per six inch tube?
11/0 about 3000
8/0 about 1100
6/0 about 310

Beads per three inch tube?
15/0 about 3500

Beads per 10 gram tube?
Delicas about 1900

These links will find you beads (and they are just a few to start your quest):
http://whimbeads.com/cart.asp
http://earthfaire.com/
http://www.beadcats.com/
Please feel free to leave your favorite bead source website in the comments section.

What size crochet hook for what size bead?
Now we get into an even cloudier area. The bottom line is that the hook must fit through the beads you want to use and must be able to pull the yarn (which will be doubled) back through the bead. If you can do that, you have the right hook.

This is an assortment of my hooks, some from church sales without visible markings.

Steel Hook Comparisons
US16=0.4mm
US14=0.5-0.75mm
US13=0.85=UK7
US12=1.0mm=UK6
I use a US13 or 14 for anything from 8/0 to larger. I have a Prims brand 14 that fits through a Delica and a Miyuki 11/0. The size of both the beads (by brand) and the hooks (by brand) is so variable that there are no hard and fast rules if you’re working with smaller beads. Get the smallest hook you can find and try it with the beads before committing to the project.

These links will find you a hook:
US 14 (Inox) 0.6mm hook:
http://earthfaire.com/product_info.php?products_id=402
US 14 and 16 (Addi) 0.75 and 0.6mm hooks:
http://www.commuknity.com/store/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=112
US 14 (Clover) 0.5mm:
http://www.maggiescrochet.com/clover-soft-touch-steel-crochet-hooks-p-922.html
US 16 (0.4mm) from Lacis (along with other options 0.4-and up):
http://lacis.com/catalog/catalog.html

Here is a little piece of my finer-weight stash. This is a lovely selection of both cob-web and lace weight yarns in fine wools, silk blends, and cashmere, each yarn perfect for beads.

As I said previously, the yarn must fit doubled through the hole of your bead. It should fit without a fight, or you will come to hate your project. I suggest you use a smooth yarn, but a “furry” yarn (like kid-mohair or cashmere) are fine. Stay away from textured yarns. When in doubt, swatch before you make a commitment.

There are many patterns available for you to practice using beads. I have several beaded patterns, for free and for a modest fee. Check my Ravelry pattern store for these options: The Hecate Stole, The Saigon Scarf and The Veil of Isis. The beaded Diamond Scarf uses a different technique, where you pre-string your beads. Here is a picture of Hecate that really shows off her beads. Until next time, keep on knitting in the New Year!

Hecate, Goddess of the Crossroads

Finally finished and ready to release, I present Hecate, Goddess of the Crossroads and Queen of Ghosts. This is knit from one short side, and the deep border is picked up along one long side and worked across. A small edging is worked on each short side at the end. There are optional beads added with a crochet hook as you knit.
I knit a pale blue cashmere wrap a few years ago, using the "Crossroads" pattern, and I never wrote down what I did. This design is a re-working of that wrap.
The pattern is available in my Ravelry Pattern Store NOW! I hope you like her. Meow...

BadCat goes to Washington

I just returned from a three day meeting in Washington, which means two long train rides, loads of hours in a conference hall and evenings alone in a hotel room. All that to say I got some knitting done! I finished a design I have been working on for several months. This is Hecate, who you might have noticed here and there since I started her. I just blocked her, and you can see all four of her pattern sections. I haven't woven in the ends yet, because I wait until a piece is blocked before I do that.
LucyFur has been especially helpful today. I don't think you can tell, but there are loads of beads on this stole. The finished size is 18x68 inches, but the length is adjustable. This pattern should be ready for sharing by late April.
Once I finished Hecate, I invited Lyra to hang out with me in my hotel room. She made herself right at home. Lyra is a famous (infamous?) design by Niebling, and an amazing piece of knitting engineering.
For those of you familiar with the Lyra pattern, I am now on row 107. I have a bit more to go! The yarn is a 2/28 cashmere/merino from Colourmart. I am enjoying it.
I have also been playing with some other doily designs. Above is the start of a modified Niebling design. The original is an eight panel circle, and I am making a four panel half-circle with some minor modification to the pattern. So far, so good, in Lacey Lamb, which is also a pleasure to work with. Knit on!

What knitting?

Much to my chagrin, I have not been getting loads of knitting done. I had hoped to have at least one of my main projects completed and ready to show you, but alas, that was not to be. I find myself distracted by work and life in general. As I mentioned several posts back, my mom has been sick. She started chemotherapy for lung cancer, which she also had surgery for just after the New Year. We anticipate the need for some spiffy faux hair in the very near future. After pondering my options and discussing with my mom, we arrived at some wonderful Italian funfur. When someone in one of my knitting circles saw me knitting with anything that was not lace weight and/or cashmere, they were appropriately shocked...I myself am somewhat shocked.
I finished one hat, and I am partially through a second. I can't really see the stitches with all the fur, but I seem to be doing well anyway! I must admit that these hats are very soft and light and actually look pretty cute, in a darling faux hair way. I got the pattern here. I made the small size a few stitches smaller and made the straight section slightly deeper. You can't go too far wrong with this pattern. My mom really likes them. I am thinking of making one for myself, in purple.
I have a few more rows of Lyra to show, with many more to come, so I might refrain from showing her again until she actually is ready to be blocked. We shall see if I can stick with that concept.
You might recall my French pear doily. The actual "doily" is complete, and I selected a deep traditional style border. Now I just have six inches of several hundred stitches to knit, so I should also refrain from boring you with this until I am blocking it...
And finally, I still have a few points to go on Hecate's border. Are you snoring yet? Goodness knows I am...I better stop yapping and actually go knit something...and by the way, doesn't my new camera rock? You can really see those beads.

The BadCat January update!

So today I have a little of this and a lot of that! I thought I would share a few of the goodies I amassed this holiday season. I also thought I would give an update about the goings-on on my needles.

Shall we start with some books and patterns? If you are looking for complex lace designs, look no more! Here they are. There are so many amazing patterns, I don't know what to knit first. I have a few ideas though...Knitted Lace Designs of the Modern Mode Bk1, by Kazuko Ichida
Knitted Lace in the Modern Mode Bk2, by Naoko Ichida
Tricot Hogar #1
Lavori Artistici #11
These are all available here:
http://www.lacis.com/catalog/catalog.html

Engeln Spitzenstricken: Individual Engeln patterns found by selecting the English-speaking flag on the top right and looking at the lace patterns.
Kunststricken Grobe und Kleine can be found as above, but selecting the lace books!
These are available here:
http://www.bastelundhobbykiste.de/index


The next fine stuff I have to show you came from Colourmart. What can I say? My order arrived in 6 days from the time I placed it and the yarn is perfect. It is hard to get really lovely fibers in very fine weights, so this is a special source for me. Don’t drool on your keyboard.
http://www.colourmart.com/
This is 3/45 cashmere/silk in the Lavender Silk color
This is 3/45 cashmere/silk in the Dust color
This is 2/65 cashmere/cotton in the Slate color
This is 2/28 merino/tencel/cashmere in the Silver color
This is 2/28 cashmere/merino in the Candy color. I also got some 2/28 lambswool/silk in the stone color, but I didn't have a picture to show you. You can imagine... Each of these cones is 100 grams and between 2000 and 3000 yards, which is enough for any of the large designs in any of the books and patterns you saw above. So many fine choices!

I feel like a kid in a candy store. Is this not mouth watering? This lace-weight yarn is not as skinny as the yarns I got from Colourmart, but it is a true lace-weight yarn in the softest lamb’s wool. It has lots of give and blocks wonderfully, so this is another special source for me. My recent Sampler Stole was knit with this yarn and is lovely.

You can see all the new Lacey Lamb colors on the Jade Sapphire website. ENJOY!

http://www.jadesapphire.com/

Don't think I am all stash and no action! Certainly not! I am currently working on two different knitting projects. The first is something you saw a little bit of, way back when I blogged about using charts. This is Hacate:

I have finished the central panel and I am over half-way done with the deep border, which is running down the lower edge. After that, there are just the two side edges and it will be done. Expect to see it again February!

The second piece of knitting I have been working on is this:

This is an old French doily pattern, and I couldn't resist the pears. I am three-quarters of the way through the pattern, and the only modifications I have made are to the double-decreases. I have made some of them directional, where they were originally written as all the same decrease. Once the actually pattern is done, the piece will be too small to be something to wear, so I was thinking of adding to it to get a larger (shawl) piece. It also occurred to me to make sleeves for it…to be continued!

I was gifted with this award this week, from Fleegle, and I am so honored! It seems I must pass it along to ten blogs that make me happy, but here is the rub. I am a bit clueless… I read a small handful of blogs and those blogs have already been honored. I have six blogs I already selected to pass the award onto, but I need four more. Please be kind and leave me suggestions!

My next post will pass the torch! Until then, knit-on.

A sigh of relief...

It has been a difficult 5 days, but I am pleased to report that my father had open-heart surgery late last week and is almost ready to come home. It looks like we are moving toward a speedy recovery, and as I am the queen of denial, I mention it only because it distracted me from my knitting...so now I will get back to it!

I am still working on Hecate, which is going to be a full-size stole pretending to be a swatch. More to follow. It looks pretty good to me. I am also planning a holiday scarf project chez BadCat, with charts posted on the blog during November. I will get information up about that next week.

First I have to totally enjoy Rhinebeck this coming weekend. I'll take my camera and some cash. Be prepared...I am going to wallow in it.

What IS on my needles?

So it isn't a sampler. I have one or two of those on my needles, but I had a design just exploding out, so I gave in and cast-on. Here are my materials. Beads and lace. How novel... And a larger view of the swatch crumpled on the needle... One item worth sharing is the way I set my charts up. Usually, I don't need anything special to read my charts. I can memorize a basic chart very quickly. But some charts don't fit in my brain that neatly. This design is one of them. I often knit in meetings and at conferences; Also while watching a movie. To help prevent errors, I do this:
I copy the chart once for each charted row and use a highlighter to mark one row on each sheet. I trim them and clip them together. When I finish a row I move that sheet to the bottom of the stack and the next row is highlighted and waiting for me! Lovely.