I have been tagged, for the first time, by fellow blogger Natty, she of the beautiful new baby girl :) I’ll post my responses, but I won’t be passing it on :)
If I could be a scientist…
...I would invent time travel so I could go back and see what the library at Alexandria held before it was burned.
If I could be a farmer…
If I could be a musician…
...I’d be able to really make the music instead of just being able to play the notes.
If I could be a doctor…
If I could be a painter…
If I could be a gardener…
...I would breed a new rose of the most glorious, crimson shade and with a huge, long-lasting bloom. I would call it the ‘Anwar Sadat’.
If I could be a missionary…
If I could be a chef…
...I would sit at the feet of Gareth Blackstock and take notes so that one day I too might be able to rant in tremendous style (extra points if I can learn how to bug my eyes out too!).
If I could be an architect…
If I could be a linguist…
If I could be a psychologist…
If I could be a librarian…
...see note above about if I could be a scientist.
If I could be an athlete…
If I could be a lawyer…
If I could be an inn-keeper…
If I could be a professor…
If I could be a writer…
If I could be a llama-rider…
If I could be a bonnie pirate…
If I could be an astronaut…
If I could be a world famous blogger…
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world…
If I could be married to any current famous political figure…
It was an interesting weekend. We had gone out Saturday to pick up a few things and Myria reminded me that I wanted to look for needles to string the beads (see Friday’s post) on the mohair. I have tapestry needles for sewing things up with but they’re way too big to fit through the beads. As we were close to it, she suggested Joanne Fabrics.
I won’t go back into it here, I’ve ranted about Joanne’s before. But since it was right there, I figured it couldn’t hurt to have a look. As it happens, they did indeed have exactly the needles I was looking for but I also ran into something I wasn’t looking for.
They had this:
Seraphina Shawl
The shawl pattern (found here - Seraphina Shawl) is a bit idiosyncratic but it’s definitely do-able if you pay attention - basically just shells and double-crochet - and the shape is just gorgeous.
This is all courtesy of the evil Bron and this post from last week. Keep it up kiddo and I’ll never have to come up with another idea of my own - hehehe! By the way, what size hook are you working this with? The yarn label indicated a size K, but J was the biggest hook I could get myself to use. That seems to be working out fine.
Now, back to the original issue - stringing beads on yarn so as to knit with them. I worked up this swatch:
Beaded mohair swatch
Finally, there’s this:
Open for business - again!
But just wait until she tells her friends!
No trackbacks yet.
Wow! That Joann boucle is awesome, I might have to go get some after all. Shawls are the best, and there can never be too many.
Thanks for the tip on Knit Picks, I just got my catalog but sadly there were no samples…
The fluffy yarn and beads are delightful, by the way, another inspiration for many I’m sure. :)
Colleen - I absolutely agree about the shawls - you can’t have too many :) And thanks for your take on the beaded mohair - I’ll put it in the “plus” column :)
I love your answer about the Library of Alexandria. Somehow I always think we’d be so much further up the road of enlightenment if they hadn’t burnt the library. Burning, banning and censorship of information is BAD, IMO.
That new yarn looks so soft and scrumptious. I’m using up some industrial strength yarn I got when I first began knitting. It’s become a challenge to turn it into something decent. Well, that and I’d hate to either waste it or inflict it on someone else.
And the beads, so fancy! You go, girl!
Aarlene - Well, since I am so fond of books and, therefore libraries, I always felt a little bad about that one and always wondered what was there :)
I know what you mean about using up yarn you’re not especially fond of - that can be a real challenge!
I love the looks of the shawl. I picked that yarn up a few weeks ago. I could not decide on the feel of it. It is a great bargain at $6.00.I like the looks of the beaded mohair.The color is stunning. We just had some Baltimore Orioles out at their orange feeder. The feeding of the birds is one of my other passions. I hope that baffle keeps them off your feeder.
Hey Robbyn ...I see you went with the lighter blues for your shawl. (hehehehe - My evil work is done for one week....)
I’m glad you called the pattern “idiosyncratic.” I thought I was the only one to wonder over those first few rows. But as you said, once you get the rhythm down, there’s nothing to it. I ended up with an “I” hook & it seems to be working ok. I considered going back for more yarn, but I honestly can’t think of anything else I’d like to make from this boucle. Yes, it’s light & fluffy, but still has an awful “cheap” acrylic feel. And I don’t say that lightly - you know I’m a big fan of most acrylics!
I’d like to try the “real” Sirdar Yo-Yo someday for comparison’s sake.
I like the beads - less contrast looks quite classy in my opinion. But it’s up to you & the look you’re going for!
Anwar Sadat? But yeah, definitely, the Library at Alexandria (said the librarian). I think the beads look great with that yarn. I did take one class about beading knitting, with Judy Pascale, that had you add the beads with a tiny crochet hook as you go. Did you do the prestringing thing? I want to bead my knitting, I just haven’t quite figured out how and don’t love any of the beaded knitting books.
Maureen - Orioles! How incredibly cool :) Today I had two nuthatches appear in quick succession and it was wonderful to see them. I was heartbroken when the old landlord made us remove the feeders so it’s awesome that the new landlord has no objections!
Bron - If the lighter blues had been more denimy and less lavenderish, I probably would have gone with the pink :) And yeah, it does have a kind of cheapo feel - but for the price, it’s worth it just to see the colors do their thing - seriously neat effect :) And I do really like the shawl, but I had tried it before several times and just couldn’t get through those first rows. I’m glad you took it up - just so I could see that it really could be done!
Rob - I did pre-string the beads and used a slip-stitch method to work them.
Work to the stich where you want to place the bead.
Bring the yarn to the front.
Slide the bead to the front of the work - snugly.
Slip the next stitch purlwise.
Bring the yarn to the back.
This has to have stitches worked both before and after the bead placement, so you can’t bead very densely and the slip stitch isn’t as solid as, say, the crochet method would be. But I figured the mohair had enough “body” to hold things in place pretty well :)
I tried the crochet hook thing, but I didn’t have one small enough to get through the bead and then back out again with the yarn.
A friend brought me the same exact yarn (except in shades of maroon) all the way from Turkey. I am making a mobious shawl with it. It is the first boucle I have worked with. The jury is still out.
Pamela - Boucle is weird stuff. What looks like the yarn isn’t really what your working with in that it’s not the loopy stuff that determines your tension and gague - it’s the binder thread that does that so there’s a certain cognitive dissonance to the whole thing. At least this stuff doesn’t catch on itself which is a big plus in my book :)
