Craft Gossip

Independent craft blog since 2007

The Bead Society of Los Angeles presents Bead Bazaar 2009

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beadbazzar_0158The Bead Society of Los Angeles is one of the oldest bead societies in the country. They were founded in 1975 by a group of bead enthusiasts. They collected and made jewelry and were educators that had a robust love of beads. Through the years they have given grants, had many educational lectures and demonstrations and they put on one of the best bead shows in Los Angeles…disclaimer, I’m a member and I participate in these shows whenever possible. I’ve even shown a TV show I was on to the group and gave a lecture on making glass beads since that was what I was doing on the show.

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But if you’re in the LA area and you need beads, and who doesn’t, come on down to the Bazaar and pick some up. there will be handmade glass, vintage, glass, ancient glass…ethnic, semi-precious. The list goes on. It’s a good time for all!

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Knit a Blanket with the Texture of a Ceiling

Knitwear designers can get inspiration from almost anything when it comes to re-creating a color scheme, an image or a texture in stitches. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t always obvious in the finished project, but sometimes it’s more literal. 

That’s the way it is with the Tin Ceiling Blanket from Purl Soho. Not just because the inspiration is in the name, but if you’ve ever seen one of these old ceilings you can see that the design of the blanket is quite similar to the pattern of the tin tiles. 

This is also a good example of the idea that you don’t have to use fancy stitch patterns or lots of color to make a big impact with your knits. This single-color blanket (designed by Gianna Mueller and inspired by a washcloth and towel set designed by Sandi Rosner) is made completely with knits and purls, other than slipped stitches at the beginning of rows to make neater edges. 

The pattern is written out row by row, but there’s also a chart, which means this project is a great opportunity to practice reading a chart where you can check your work against the written pattern if you need to. 

It comes in two sizes, a crib blanket and a throw. The yarn used in the sample is an organic cotton sold by the cone, which is a great way to get a large quantity of yarn and have fewer ends to weave in. In fact, you can knit either size of the blanket with just one cone of yarn, which isn’t inexpensive but makes you a great, sturdy, heirloom quality but still washable blanket you’ll use for years to come. (Of course you can use any sport weight yarn you like to make this blanket.)

Check out all the details and grab the free pattern from Purl Soho. 

[Photo: Purl Soho]