FO Friday: Olive Garden Beaded Shawl

The shawl has been finished, blocked and ooh-ed and ahh-ed over and I’m very happy with the finished project.

I am so happy with how the yellow beads pop against the blue background. This was, of course, my original intention but while working the border I found myself concerned that maybe it would be too much. 

Now that it’s been blocked and out for it’s first photoshoot with my photogenic friend Amelia, I can see that my original goal has been accomplished. 

So even though knitting with beads was a goal for 2014, I’m glad to have finally finished this project – more than a year in the making but looking great! What are you working on this week?

WIP Wednesday: How to Add Beads to Knitting

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll have seen that I made it to the lace edging on my Olive Garden Shawl – which means beads!

I’ve never done beads before but it was one of my goals for last year. I know, sometimes I arrive late to the party but hey, at least I got here! The bead rows definitely slow down the speed quite a bit but I think the end result is totally worth it. 

Here’s how I’ve been doing it: Work the stitch to be beaded and place the bead on the world’s tiniest crochet hook.

Remove the stitch from the right hand needle with the hook and slide the bead onto the stitch.

Return the stitch to the right hand needle.

Pretty simple! Have you ever knit with beads before? Share your projects with me in the comments!

WIP Wednesday: Olive Garden Shawl

This has been my backseat project for a while and now that I’ve pulled it back out again my worries about running out of yarn have resurfaced.

I’ve got 33g of this lace weight yarn left and I know I won’t be able to get the full size of the shawl out of it but I don’t know exactly how much farther I can get out of it before I need to start the gorgeous border.

What’s your most reliable way to play responsible yarn chicken? I would hate to get close to the end and not be able to finish out all the beautiful edging rows!

WIP Wednesday: Olive Garden

The Olive Garden shawl is growing bit by bit.  I haven’t had a ton of time to knit lately, mostly on my walks to and from work and occasionally in the evenings.  I’m just beginning the fourth eyelet row and enjoying the slow but squooshy growth.

The yarn is Bittersweet Woolery’s Star Dust Lace (the same yarn I used for my Compass Rose Shawl) and I think it’ll go perfectly with the bright yellow beads I’m planning to use on the lace edging.

I almost wish I started using the beads earlier, on the eyelet parts of the shawl, but I don’t want to rip it back now and put them in, so I’ll just wait for the end.

(the above beer color kind of matches the bead color) I originally made “knit something beaded” one of my 2014 goals and although I started this shawl in 2014, I neither finished it nor got to the beaded part during that calendar year…Knitter Fail.

What are you working on this week?  Have you ever knit a beaded thing?