Bead 'speriment

I swatched out some bead experiments this weekend. I've read about knitting with beads before; I remembered one technique, and made up some more. This is slipping the bead onto the right hand side of the knit stitch, using pre-threaded beads. To thread the beads on, I used beeswax to stiffen the yarn end into a point (instead of a needle).

I did a swatch with beads on the purl stitches, but we'll have to try the photo again, it turned out blurry. I tried one with garter stitch, but garter stitch really drives me crazy. It just seems so unfinished to me. I wish I liked it because it lies flat, and I need as many of those stitches as I can get.

The interesting part was seeing the different orientations that the beads had with the different techniques: vertical, slanted, horizontal.

I also put the bead on a float in front, but it looked bad with this bead/yarn combo.

I saw "Decorative Knitting" at the library today, and looked through it to see how they use beads. Some interesting techniques, but they didn't explain how to do many of the swatches they showed. What a tease.

Also in book knitting: I got One Skein. I like it! Of course, I got the book to get ideas for using stash yarns, but it's making me want new yarn for the projects in there. I'll resist.

And in faux one-upmanship:

Wonkyknit isn't the only one with racoons in her trees!