Plain Jane Knits Up A Storm

A few musings about my needlecraft hobbies - knitting, crocheting, quilting, & cross-stitch along with my other love, genealogy. While growing up, I used to HATE the term "Plain Jane", but when it comes to knitting & crocheting, I've realized that I really *am* a Plain Jane in that I don't use fancy yarns.

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Location: Northern Detroit Metro area, Michigan, United States

Friday, March 25, 2005

Whoopee!! Stitch Markers.. I did it!!

Yes, I got up my nerve and made some beaded stitch markers!! How I got to this was an adventure in itself. This morning after coffee with Mom, I came home to DH asking if I wanted to investigate the porch sale we saw in the village on the way home from Kroger's last night. (We didn't stop then because we had just picked up a bake-it-at-home pizza and Mom had her oven on pre-heat.) So off we went and the first thing that DH spotted was a cast iron door stop in the shape of a black cat. Mom's cat, Sadie is black, and while the doorstop was obviously a short hair cat, unlike Sadie, we both agreed that Mom would probably like it so $1 exchanged hands and off we went to Mom's. She was pleasantly surprised and we all agreed that the cat needed a green bead for an eye in place of the simple hole that was there. Hmmm.. JoAnne's is having a 40% off sale on jewelry findings & beads and it's right across the parking lot from Meijer's where asparagus is still on sale for 99ยข a pound. A plan was forming and off the three of us went. We found a package of mixed beads in greens & golds that looked promising and I picked up a package of wires with little heads on one end and one of small rings. Back at Mom's, after a couple other uninteresting stops (we did get another 3#s of asparagus), the smallest green bead was a perfect fit for the cat's eye and a little Elmer's glue held it in place with the hole running top to bottom and looking like a slit pupil.. Perfect!

I brought the rest of the package of beads home and after much hemming & hawing, enlisted DH's help and here are the results:



The white beads are more opalescent than they show in the photo - another case of the flash washing out the color. Anyway, I used them this evening on the Fuzzy Feet and on the latest pair of booties and I love them. I'm seriously thinking about going back tomorrow while the sale is still on and stocking up on some more supplies. I should mention that yesterday, I stopped at the fancy bead store in Oxford, 3 miles up the road, and had absolutely no luck in finding either rings or the wires with the stops on one end. I asked for help and the woman had no idea what I was talking about and didn't seem interested in either understanding what I needed or offering suggestions. So finding what I needed and at 40% off today was a real high.

On the actual knitting front, I gave Mom the red vest from the Knit Red KAL and she loves it. It fits her perfectly and she was going through her closet picking out outfits that it would go with. She mentioned a few weeks ago that she really liked the lime green micro-fiber yarn that I've been using for the baby booties and while I couldn't find that type today, the Red Heart Kids has a worsted weight that's almost the exact color though without the sheen. I picked up two 5 ounce skeins and will make her a vest, probably the Jiffy vest from Leisure Arts with the leaf lace panel in the front (if I can find where I put the pattern!).

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9 Comments:

Blogger Dropstitchknitter said...

Nice stitch markers! You shop just like me - always have a few things that lead to a few more things. Thanks for stopping by my blog and your comments - it just makes me mad that people have to make a hobby out of being mean to other people. Glad there are more of us then of them!

11:32 AM  
Blogger Nana Sadie said...

Oh, Jane! I really like those stitch markers...makes me want to run down to Joann's tomorrow for that coupon sale, myself. I've already got some beads, I just need those pins and rings! LOL They be alot nicer on clapotis than the jumbo paperclips I'm using!

12:24 AM  
Blogger Plain Jane said...

I bought 13mm hoop earrings, gold, for the large rings. They pull apart and then the smaller wire goes back into the hollow tube so there isn't an end sticking out like the jump-rings have. I just put some stitch markers on a size 13 circular and they fit although just. The first wires I bought had a pin type head on them and it was smaller than many of the bead holes. Today I bought 2" brass-eye pins and they have the advantage that you can use the "eye" for a stop at the bottom of the beads or it will slip over the ring if you leave it at the top and finish the bottom some other way. I also bought a pair of needle nose pliers with round jaws that let me twist the wire down into a spiral more easily than the square jawed electronic ones I had to work with yesterday. I made some more marker today and have plans for others so will put photos on the blog soon.

1:45 AM  
Blogger Birdsong said...

Thanks for the confidence-inspiring trip through making stitch markers... have been a little intimidated to get to this yet. I was looking for your red vest, but had to admire the beautiful markers you just whipped up.

11:23 AM  
Blogger Ev said...

I love the stitch markers!! Darn it, though, you've inspired me. That means MORE shopping... hehehe! Actually, I have the little rings; I have beads.. all I need is the eye pins. Think I can convince hubby to take me to Michael's?

12:22 PM  
Blogger Lisa said...

Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog. I love getting comments. Today I posted my first attempt at stitch markers. They are fun to make, and I'm looking forward to using up all my beads.

Happy Knitting

Lisa

5:12 PM  
Blogger The MacKay Way said...

Lovely stitch markers!
:-)

Cheers!
Kimberli

2:18 AM  
Blogger Sharon said...

Well done they look lovely and make your knitting look real classy.

7:10 PM  
Blogger Maggie Ann said...

Your stitch markers are inspiring me to get busy. I have most of the 'makins'....love that amber color.

10:02 AM  

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