One Down, 54 To Go

The yarn for my Christmas ball project finally arrived, and I got started yesterday. Today, I have my first one finished. A little behind schedule, but I’m happy that I’ve begun.

Arne & Carlos, in their book, suggest gluing what they term crystals on to some of the designs to give them a bit of sparkle. I can’t imagine anything glued to knitting actually staying. Also, this looked a bit like bedazzling to me, and I wanted something classier. I’d run across a technique for adding beads to knitting using a crochet hook, so I decided to do that. Thing is, I don’t know squat about beads.

Luckily, Donna, a friend and work colleague, does know about beads. So we went shopping yesterday afternoon at Nomadic Notions and got some very nice glass Czech beads in red, clear/silver and gold. I have some very tiny crochet hooks that once belonged to my great-grandmother and were given to me by my aunt, and they’re doing just the trick. Some of the beads’ holes are too small for the hook, but I have enough beads that this shouldn't be a problem. In any case, I’ve been pleased with the results so far.

I used some acrylic stuffing for the balls, although Arne & Carlos call for using wool batting. They claim that it makes for a more uniform filling. I did have a few lumps and bumps in this one, so I might try that. Also, my crochet chain for the loop at the top is twisting in on itself. Do any crocheters know what this means? Wrong hook size? Do I need to go up or down in size? Not a problem when it’s actually hanging from a bough, I imagine, but it would be nice to know.

I’m going to start another one right now.