Bead All That You Can Bead

No, not a mangled slogan for the US Marine Corps; rather a discovery that I can knit and bead. The Evenstar KAL begins tonight. The shawl calls for 2900 seed beads. That's 3 ounces of size 8/0 beads. Initially I was going to eschew the beads, but the more I looked at beaded swatches (and my own bead stash), the more I thought, "I can do this." Indeed, with a crochet hook (0.6 mm in diameter is what I bought), it's eminently possible to add beads one at a time. Who knew it could be so easy? When my mother knitted with beads or sequins, she strung them all. With this technique, beads can be added at will, in any color order desired. How neat is that? What's even neater is the choice of lovely beads I have. Above are 2 I picked from my stash to coordinate with the Zephyr yarn. I want a subtle shimmer so I picked bead colors fairly close to the yarn color. Both are Matsuno shade 356g, called magenta-lined aurora borealis (AB in bead lingo) or Sparkling Dahlia (listed on my tubes) or Elderberry-lined AB. Maybe that should be Eldar-berry, in keeping with the LotR theme here; bad pun, I know. On the bottom are the smaller size 11/0 and at top the size 8/0 the pattern calls for. I might, just might, try to use the size 11/0; there's something about the more subtle glimmer of them that appeals to me. I want a mysterious look to the shawl, a nighttime look: subtle shimmer that resembles stars twinkling in the sky, not bold glitz and glamour. If I can't get the 11/0 beads on the yarn, well then, the 8/0 beads will have to do.

Now take these beads:

Aren't they gorgeous? Hard to capture the nuances of color, but believe me, they are stunning. This color is called Brownstone Iridescent. I think I'll add these to the edging of my Shetland Triangle shawl. The color will look super against the pale beige. I can't wait for the crochet hook to arrive from Fuzzy Mabel so I can start bead knitting!

And I'll wind up this post with some eye candy for you. Still keeping to the LotR theme, here's a necklace I finished late 2009 I named Arwen. I was inspired to make it by the headpiece she wore at Aragorn's coronation in Return of the King.