No Need to be a Hooker: Needle-and-Thread "As You Go" Bead Method for Knitting and Crocheting

If you are here for this tutorial alone, scroll down to the dashed line.  PDF download available below. 

I know the basics of bead knitting, but because I often dislike sparkles, I never tried it. But last week I finally realized what to do with the 200 yards of Jojoland Cashmere I'd purchased for $20 from my LYS during a summer sale last year, and I wanted beads.  I couldn't do hook-as-you go because  my smallest crochet hook is 1.25mm, which is nowhere near small enough for me to pull a seed bead through, and I also wanted to have many beads ready at a time to avoid inconveniences like tedium, increased spillage risk, and having to take my eyes off Star Trek: The Animated Series.  So I came up with a method using tools you have on hand already: waste laceweight yarn or thick thread, a thin needle, and your project. 

I entered a SUPER Mystery KAL- I say "super" because we only know yardage, yarn weight, needle size, and that we need beads for hook-as-you-go on the third month of the KAL.  [Sign-ups for that darling end 31 January, apparently.]  I figured that I might as well use the beads, and that got me thinking- what else could I do with beads?  Well, it was very cold last week, so I wanted more warm, but still light, scarves and cowls.  And when I was searching my Ravelry library for bead inspiration, I caught sight of Whorl, and I KNEW  I wanted to make it in my precious cashmere.  So I bought the beads, and ta-da! that was that!

Wrong.  Like I said above, my smallest crochet hook was far too big, plus I'd never heard of 3-in-1 dental floss, and I can't fathom using flossers to bead.  So I got creative...ish. I got my 6/0 Czech seed beads that I'd just purchased, fished around for a suitable needle and a suitable yarn, and came up with a solution for my own whorl.

Please forgive a couple of the photos, they were taken on my phone.  At least most came out fine!
 

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Needle-and-Thread Bead Knitting & Crocheting Method

Materials:

• the 6/0 seed beads for your project(or whatever size you have/is specified in the pattern)
• heavy laceweight cotton yarn or thread for threading.  I used a cotton 2-ply that fluffs with repeated use.  If you find something that works as well as cotton, let me know in the comments and I'll add it in here.
• needle thin enough to fit seed bead + 4 strands of the threading yarn
• your knitting or crochet project! 

Notes:  Like hook-as-you-go, this will give you a slightly elongated stitch in knitting.  For a less elongated stitch, pull and push the bead more gently and IMMEDIATELY pull the needle out. 

Thread must be something that'll allow the beads to fit through four strands of it + the needle and have enough slippage to get onto your project yarn easily without shedding, thick enough to keep the beads on there if you should accidentally knock the needle over, and sturdy enough not to break under this repeated strain.

 This method will have very different results for crochet than for knitting, depending on what portion of the stitch you add your bead too.  This allows for more creative possibilities than for knitting.  Knitters, fear not!  That just means you have an added challenge!

For WHERE to stick your beads (in knitting) to get them to show up the way you want them to, you can try endless swatching or trial-and-error, or you can go over to http://spinspinspin.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/knitting-with-beads/ (also linked above), which covers a few methods for bead knitting and has a very detailed discussion, notes, and even diagrams of where to place your beads.  I used this to go straight into my pattern without swatching and the results were just as envisioned.

Process: 
1)  First, thread the yarn through your needle, double-strandle it, and KNOT the end.  Make it a knot big enough to keep those seed beads on there.  I looped it through 10+ times and you can see how small the resulting knot actually was, but it works for keeping the seed beads on there:

2)  Thread on your beads.  Make sure your needle has enough room to maneuver into the top bead and come back out.

AKA some wiggle room

3)  Work to the stitch you need to bead.  In my case, it was the sssk from the previous row.  For crochet, you will have to remove your hook.

Seasoned knitters, ignore.  Beginners, behold! :)

4)  Insert the needle through the stitch and pull it through the top bead on the beading strand, then push the bead down onto the stitch while also pulling up the needle and the other end of the strand.  Then place the stitch back on the needle.

1)  2)

3)  4)

5)  6)

To get a less elongated stitch, pull and push more gently and IMMEDIATELY take the needle out. 

5)  Once the beaded stitch is safely back on the needle, pull the needle out the same way it went in.

Just knit it.  Just knit it. No one wants the bead defeated!

6)  Work the stitch and continue pattern as established.   

Happy yarning!

Tutorial download (pdf, 4 pages):
Needle_and_Thread_Beading_by_DeviousRose_1Feb2015.pdf

Sparkling Peachy French Toast

I apologize for the poor phone photograph.  They're still delicious!

 First off, I apologize for the awful photo: my camera batteries were dead and it was the end of Week 1 in the French Riviera, so I had to take it with my iPod.  There was simply no way to take that photo beautifully because the syrup was so shiny...and delicious.  

Week 1 of study abroad, I purchased a lovely peach wine.  I bought a different peach wine one the end of the week, because the one I had previously bought was out of stock.  The new wine wasn't very good- tasted more like ethanol with peach flavouring- so I decided too cook with it.  BEST DECISION EVER.  I had a craving and decided to use it to make this lovely French toast, and while the wine as a drink was nasty, as cooking material it is just suberb.  This makes an excellent snack, breakfast, brunch, or dessert, and was only the first food I made with the peach wine. 

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Sparkling Fruity French Toast

Makes 4 slices, about 15 minutes

4 slices artisan bread, cut to about 1cm thickness (I used a whole wheat olive oil loaf with whole seeds in it)

1 tbsp butter or olive oil for cooking

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup peach or other clear fruit wine or juice

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

1/4 cup extra wine or juice, for syrup sauce

Heat skillet and butter or olive oil for cooking toast, and a small non-stick pot with for sauce.  Beat egg in small bowl.  Add sugar and mix loosely, then add milk and wine or juice and mix well.  Add cinnamon and HALF of the walnuts, if desired.  When butter in skillet is hot, dip bread slices into egg mixture (make sure to pick up some of the walnuts onto the bread!  The nutty taste will toast into the bread.  Cook on medium-low heat, until each side is thoroughly cooked but inside is still slightly tender, about 7 minutes. Pour leftover egg mixture into the pot (or wait for the skillet) for syrup.  Add extra wine or juice if desired.  Cook on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until sauce is thick and syrupy, stirring constantly.  Sauce should be thick but liquidy and still drip runnily off a spoon, and wine or juice should no longer be distinguishable.  Stir in walnuts and remove from heat.  Serve over French toast.  Garnish with fresh fruit if desired.

Study Abroad Recipes!

I've been studying abroad in the French Riviera as of January 5th, after little over 6 months of preparing and a lifetime of hoping for this distant ideal. My study abroad experiences in general- photos, assorted trips, musings, photos, environmental observations, and academics- are all on another blog, PagoKrystallos. I'll only be here for four months, but with living in France for even as little as four months, I can make do with all those new experiences. In just the last 24 days, I've gone to Monaco (new country); Nice; a perfume factory in Grasse; Ventimiglia, Italy; and Lyon. I bought some wonderful Italian yarn in Lyon, with which I'm making a headwrap and cowl to keep warm here.  But this one shall remain for all my creative finery!  Now, where was I?  Oh yes...cooking.

Here in France I have a LOT more free time than I do back home.  I'm taking a similar amount of credits here as I would back home, but the classes are structured a bit differently, and I wind up with a 4-day weekend.  I also live in an apartment, and have several markets and small grocery stores within a mere 5 minute or less walk of my apartment.  So of course I've been improvising a lot of little dinners and snacks and desserts. All of them are simple to make but yield a complex-looking and clean-tasting result, and all have taken 20 minutes or less to make.  (My one beef with the apartment is no oven, just a toaster oven, but I'll live.)  I've made Italian, Japanese, and of course, French.  No Mexican foods yet except a sausage I bought that turned out to be chorizo, but I'll probably start cooking Mexican when I get homesick.  The only thing I really want from home is my little serranos, but no chile is sold here but picantes. Oh, and tortillas.  I ate my first sunny-side up egg without tortilla my first week here.  It was...a bewildering 5 minutes from serving myself until I ate it, during which I was just trying to decide how to eat it!

So the food I've made here that I plan to start posting up in proper recipes or as cooking inspirations on this blog:

• French toast with peach walnut syrup (from peach wine)
• mini flaky artisan pizza with gouda, brie, caramellized onion, bell pepper, and mushroom.
• a croque madame (just google this one if it's not familiar, you WON'T be sorry) 
• pasta with merguez sausage, bell pepper, olive oil, peach wine, and herbs
• chicken and caramellized onion roasted in peach wine, served over sticky rice
• Japanese-inspired sweet omelette
• crêpe with roasted pear and caramellized onions

Au revoir!~

Pumpkin Brownies Recipe

Apologies, this was written up in April, but I left it for the holiday season. At least the day before Christmas Eve is a great release date for pumpkin goodies!

 

This semester, my Wednesdays have a 6-hour gap between classes. I usually spend it doing some homework or procrastinating. Last week I was talking to a friend, and while talking to him I randomly uttered the words "pumpkin brownie," in sudden burst of craving-fueled inspiration. 

 

The result of my experiment. Success? Success.

So as I was getting back to my place on the bus after my first class, I did what any logical, rational person would do, and decided that since we had cream cheese, I would make pumpkin brownies! 

 

Because I'm such a caring person, I kindly tormented my friend with the batter he could not have.

 

Naturally, once I got home I got my baking apron, took out my ingredients and supplies, and whipped these babies up. I used my brownie recipe as a template, but replaced anything calling for cacao-related products with pumpkin, and added a bit of cream cheese. I made two 8" x 8" pans (20 cm square), or you could use a 13" x 9" (33 cm x 23 cm) for a single pan per batch. 

 

Look at that batter!  Mixed and finished and ready to go! As you can see, I added some pecans to it- thinking of some yogurt chips next time! 

Pour it out nicely into the pans...doesn't it look just like brownie batter? Or, even better...goldie batter?

Out of the oven and cut. Smell was simply delightful as they baked!  Since these are meant to be brownies, I took them out when the batter stuck to the fork all crumbly-like.

 

Scrumptious, isn't it? 

 

 

Behold, my precious in all its glory.

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Pumpkin Brownies: 
Yields approximately 32 2”-square brownies. 

4 eggs 
1/3 cup granulated sugar 
1 cup light brown sugar 
2 tsp pure vanilla extract 
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted 
2 cups puréed pumpkin or 15 oz. canned pumpkin 
4 oz. (1/2 cup) cream cheese, softened 
1 tbsp ground cinnamon 
2 1/4 cups flour 
1 tbsp baking powder 
1 cup pecans, walnuts, or chocolate chunks (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. In medium bowl, beat 4 eggs together, then stir in granulated and brown sugars until fluffy. Add in vanilla extract. 

 In separate, smaller bowl, mash cream cheese and pumpkin into a thick paste. Add melted butter slowly and mix until thoroughly blended. Fold pumpkin mixture into egg mixture and blend until mixture holds together. Add cinnamon. Slowly add in flour and baking powder and mix until well-blended, then add in pecans, if desired. 

Pour into a 13” x 9” or two 8” x 8” prepared baking pans and bake 30-35 minutes, until fork or knife inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs clinging. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and enjoying your decadent treat! 

Pay de Limón (Key Lime Pie)

     I titled this post "pay de limón" because I had can never remember what key lime pie is called, but I knew it was a dessert I wanted to make. So prior to making it, I had to Google "flan de limón inglés" and "pay de limón inglés." But those were giving me that icky thing I know lemon meringue pie as...until I remembered that the English word for lemon was not lemon, but lime. (Hey, the Spanglish makes sense to me!) 

     These last two weeks have been busy, and I've been wanting to bake. I've wanted to bake a delicious treat, a tasty treat, but also a summertime treat.  Since I just got a new recipe book, and there's a recipe for a white chocolate lime pie in there, I decided on key lime pie!

My key lime pie features fresh lime juice and a crust using crushed almonds as half of the flour. Can you say "yummy"?

      For the crust, I was not about to use graham crackers because I wanted something finer. Solution?  Grab about 3/4 cup whole, shelled, toasted albums and pulverize them to a fine powder in the blender. Blend this with about 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) to a consistency you can mold easily when in small tart pans. Or, in my case, muffin cups! (As a quick note, if you haven't made pie crust before, measurements for the flour and butter, or shortening if you prefer it, differ depending on the weather, pressure of surroundings, etc.)
 

 

Here you can see 3 muffin cups with prepared crust, and one with about the amount of dough needed to make a nice crust.

A more aesthetic shot of the same view, just for kicks. Doesn't that almondine crust look scrumptious?

     I layed out the leftover crust in a small, 7-inch tart pan and then proceeded to make the filling as the crust pre-baked, 15 minutes for that lovely texture. Let the crust cool a bit after coming out of the oven, of course, before pouring in the filling! I based my filling loosely off Emeril Lagasse's recipe, though I found it too sour for my liking and added about 2/3 cup sugar to the batter. 

Pre-oven sentencing. Tasty pasty, isn't it?

     

     I did cheat a little and added 3 drops of green food colouring to the batter, for aesthetic's sake. But don't worry, it was organic food colour! And by "organic" I mean the molecule contains carbon.

    Here you can see the tarts after baking in the oven 17 minutes, until the fillings were settled entirely (I jiggled the pan before taking it out.) Took one of them out and placed it on a plate to take a photo.

Is it just me, or is something wrong? 

     The crust texture was all wrong- crumbly and soft, like mazapan, and fell apart when I removed the tart from the muffin pan. I tasted the crust, which did not at all have the toasty almond flavour I expected- in fact it tasted almost...raw.  It took me a second to figure out that I'd likely forgotten to actually set the oven to bake when I set the initial temperature for the crust, since it's a two-dial oven! Oh no! What to do?

That there is my easy-peasy solution. Yay!

     Luckily, my hard cerebrum came to the rescue!  I decided to take all the tarts out very, very carefully so they wouldn't suffer the same fate as the on in the photo. It broke further when I transferred it to the foil paper on the cookie sheet, and you can tell it's the one to the left of the gap. I baked them 15 more minutes before taking them out again, and it worked! I was able to transfer them to a container easily with minimal "dusting" of the crust, and placed them in the refrigerator to cool before being eaten.

     Now, the part you likely scrolled through for- the recipe! Minus the mishaps you may have noticed if you skimmed this post, of course.

Maaaarvelous. Simply maaah-velous.

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Key Lime Pie:
Makes approximately 18 mini tarts or 1 deep dish 9-inch pie. 

Crust:
3/4 cup whole roasted almonds
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.  In blender or food processor, pulverize almonds to a fine powder and pour into small mixing bowl. There will be some lumps, but if blended well they should be clumped patches of powder, and will fall apart easily when touched.

Add flour and melted butter, and quickly knead to a paste-like consistency that is moldable but not sticky. It should be just a bit crumbly, but enough to hold together. Press into the bottoms and up the sides of muffin pans or 9-inch pie.

Bake 15 minutes and allow to cool completely before pouring in filling.
 
Filling: 
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice 
28 ounces (3.5 cups, or 2 14-oz cans) sweetened condensed milk 
2 large eggs 
2/3 cup granulated sugar 
1 tsp. freshly ground lime zest 

Lower oven temperature to 325˚ F. Whisk lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, and both eggs together in large bowl. The milk will refuse to mix with the juice at first, so a wire whisk is recommended.  Slowly whisk in sugar, followed by beating in lime zest. 

Pour into prepared pans and bake for 17-20 minutes, until filling is settled and does not move.  Let cool before refrigerating 30 minutes prior to serving.

Enjoy!
 

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Questions? Feedback? Critiques? Advice? Just drop a comment here and lemme know!

Steampunk Microphone Process

     So, here's process of a single-file walkthrough I uploaded to my deviantART a bit ago, for this drawing.

Inspiration:
     It was summer, about two weeks or so before my first year of college would start, and I was pretty much just watching random videos on YouTube. Ran into this one:

      Steampunk? I decided to watch just for the fashions, typical me (I had also spent a bit watching the runway sections of Project Runway), when up goes that microphone, and again, and AGAIN.  First glance at it, I realized...it was BEAUTIFUL. Steampunk, but classic microphone, but at the same time something...Greek? Seafaring? No clue, but I managed to pause the video at several instances and screenshot as much of the mic as possible, then got to sketching.  After 10 minutes or so, I had this baby:

 

     I confess that at this point, I put it away and then forgot about it until months later- shortly before my spring break. Well, once spring break started I got to fine-tuning the overall design of the sketch and messing with it, had a better look at the video, and finally went and inked it. I used my usual mixture of ink and coffee- 1/4 coffee to 3/4 ink for the darker spots,and wa-la! A couple hours later, I had my inked sketch:

     You can see where my inking went wrong with the smudging, but I wasn't about to start over or give up. So I ploughed on to base colouring with coffee and paint+coffee.      

     As you can see, there's a couple things that went somewhat awry, but it was decent enough overall for me to go on with my coloured pencils, Sharpie oil paint pen, and more watercolours and coffee. 

     I went for a burnished, antique look- I originally wanted a Hellenistic-style  compass, which is why there's a theta in place of an o.  Yes, I could have used an omega, but it didn't really say "ancient Greek navigation" to me. The lack of accuracy does bother me, of course, but the drawing is done and I'm still happy with it!

Fearsome Cthulhu

     So I began to make an amigurumi Cthulhu last week, Tuesday after midnight. After all, why work on my chemistry lab report or on my Japanese when I can crochet?  Anyway, was scared of the tentacles at first, but as you can see on my oh-so-smiley face, they were actually pretty easy to do. I'm also thinking of putting a squeaker in it, to make it the fearsome Elder God Lovecraft meant him to be.