How To
Put a Bead on It
Dear all you brilliant knitters,
A quick note—I’m heading up to Kay’s today, getting ready for our annual pilgrimage to the Hudson River Valley for all the fiber festival doings. If you’re going, I dearly hope we’ll see each other. Here’s where we’ll be, Thursday through Sunday. We’ve got stickers and big head signs and a photo booth and hell, I think Kay’s bringing an elephant or something.
Meanwhile…
Another thing I’m looking forward to is Jeanette Sloan’s virtual class on knitting with beads, coming up hot next Friday, October 24.
Our friendship with Jeanette is one of those treasures that I don’t get to enjoy as often as I like—she’s busy, we’re running around like drunk chickens—so her class on knitting with beads gives us a great reason to be together. Details here.
Feeling properly bedecked with Jeanette. (She’s rocking her design, the Dionne Shawl. I’m in Cecelia Campochiaro’s Spectra sweater, Kay’s got a Nancy Marchant Honeycomb Scarf.)
Jeanette’s class comes at a time when embellishment is at an all-time high, in fashion and in knitting. This is one of those skills I’ve never attempted in my knitting, though I’ve done my share of stitched beadwork (tiny beads on Alabama Chanin projects) and truly love the effects that are possible. So curious to learn how you get a bead into a handknit—I have no idea, and maybe I’ve been waiting for the right teacher.
We’ve got a little bag of clear, silvery glass beads that you can order when you sign up for the class. The pattern for the scarf is included in the class price, and you can order up two skeins of our Jane yarn or bring your own DK-weight yarn.
We couldn’t resist trying out some Jane colors to see what the beads look like with different colors.
Let the experimenting begin! Hope you can come for this class and see why Jeanette is one of our favorite people. (MDK Society members, visit the Society member page where you can find the link to watch our conversation with Jeanette during The Snippets Show back in April.)
See you soon, either by the cider donut hut or right there inside your computer.
Love,
Ann
I hope you both have a wonderful weekend at Rhinebeck! I have to stay home in NC this year to work early voting. Take lots of pictures! (I know you will)!
One day I will get to Rhinebeck. It is a bucket list item. In the meantime, have fun and send pictures. I am all signed up for the beaded scarf class.
I don’t think I ever saw that picture of the three of us. I look extra goofy, I think because we didn’t even know Jeanette was coming to Rhinebeck until we saw her there! Memories…
I was there the year that fab photo was taken — I recognize all of your knitwear! That year (2023?) was the only time I’ve made it to Rhinebeck and Woolen Affair.
Here’s a story about that day: I recognized Jeanette Sloan from her BIPOC in Fiber and MDK content, and her books in my library (Kate Davies’ Warm Hands and of course MDK FG15 Open.). I said hello and gushed at her about her talent. She asked my name and I said, “Oh, I’m a nobody” — meaning I wasn’t a designer or dyer etc. Jeannette quickly and emphatically said, with great warmth and sincerity, “everybody’s a somebody” etc. In essence, she made me realize that the crowd of us who consider ourselves “just anonymous makers” are integral and always welcome under the big “Yarn World” tent.
So, to all yarnie folks who are heading to Rhinebeck this weekend: Enjoy a great, fun, inclusive, feel good, communal weekend! And three cheers to the community that MDK has built!