I'm just back from our show at Stitches West 2015, and as usual it was such a blast meeting and talking with the knitters and crocheters who came to our booth. It is always a thrill to see projects worked from our patterns and to demonstrate techniques one-on-one to those who come and visit us. Probably the most common question I receive, after technique-related questions, has to do with choosing yarn colors. More often than not, a knitter or crocheter choosing yarn colors asks my advice on what colors go together, or they bring a friend that can offer advice. Or they just fall into the pattern of choosing the same colors, and they complain about it. I can't count...
Make this very simple bracelet with a lucet cord and a decorative button. For this cord we used a lucet cord with a decorative gimp. Don't know how to do it? Take a look at the how-to-video below to learn how. You can use a lucet cord with a gimp for this bracelet, or just use any kind of lucet cord that you'd like. (See our Lucet Cord Tutorials for other cord options.) To make the bracelet with your finished lucet cord, just take a look at the photo tutorial below. What you need Here's what you will need: A finished lucet cord of about 54". Make it shorter or longer based on how many times you'd like to wrap it around...
I did a little research recently on working garter stitch in the round while I was considering the design of this super simple cowl. I started to work my project in the traditional way, working alternating knit and purl rounds and ran into that annoying jog at the end/beginning of the round at the transition point between knit and purl. This started me on my quest to see if there was a way to do garter in the round without the jog and in this post I'll share some of what I found. First off, I was able to find three ways of working garter stitch in the round. Here's the roundup: The Traditional Approach: Working alternating knit/purl rounds. It's the way...
I've been playing around with the lucet and some lustrous rayon yarn lately. I'm experimenting with ways of using lucet cording and simple knotting to create jewelry. I'm a total beginner at corded jewelry. I created a 90" lucet cord using Lucci Rayon, my Wool Tree Lucet, and my handy Wool Tree (great for working with cone yarns). If you've never tried lucet cording before, it is super simple - I posted the above YouTube video some time back to demonstrate the basic technique that I've used to create this necklace. I found the You Tube video above and followed the instructions for attaching a pendant with a figure-eight knot, as well as the instructions for the adjustable knot closures. I left a 4" starting and ending tail...
I've been learning to use the lucet. It's a fiber arts tool from the Medieval / Viking era that makes different kinds of cording and it has just a tiny learning curve. After making about two 6" cords, I felt like I'd reasonably mastered my tension: Just 2 evenings in front of the tv and I've added a new skill to my fiber arts repertoire. If you've never used a lucet before, grab one of our gorgeous Wool Tree Lucets and follow along with the "How To" video below: There are a couple of things that I didn't touch on in the video that I think are worth mentioning: Don't choose a nubby or novelty yarn for your first cords. In...
