Monday, June 16, 2008

I Swatched! I Swatched!

It's not something I do often (shhh.. don't tell the knitting police). For the second Swallowtail shawl, though, I wanted to know how the beads will work with the yarn. Would they be too heavy? What combination of beads would work best?

So, I swatched.

I worked two pattern repeats. On one, over the 5 nupp pattern, I incorporated 3 medium beads and two small beads. On the other, I used two large beads, two medium beads and one small bead.

Photobucket

Here's what I've decided so far. First, these beads aren't glass, so weight doesn't seem to be an issue. The swatch has been blocked and holds up quite nicely, even with all those beads. Second, I like the combination of all three sizes of beads (on the left) better than just using the two sizes (on the right).

What do you think?

7 comments:

  1. Ev
    It's been awhile...........
    I have to say I like the combo of medium and small beads - at least on the swatch. Either way though, it's going to be smashing I'm sure.
    susan, tolland, ma

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yup, I'm with you, must be a balance thing or something but I looked at it by covering up one side then the other and came to the same conclusion!
    Nice yarn colour!

    ReplyDelete
  3. For my eye, so long as weight isn't an issue, I like the large-medium-snall combination. I think it looks fantastic in your stitch pattern there! Very cool :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. They're both gorgeous. But for sheer impact I too prefer the large-medium-small on the left. The medium-small on the right looks a bit daintier (if you wanted to be dainty, that is).

    ReplyDelete
  5. I favor the medium & small bead version - it lets the lace pattern take center stage more while still providing a "spark".

    ReplyDelete
  6. You inspire me to swatch, beautiful work. I agree that using the three sized beads is preferable.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the beads and agree the gradation is best! So elegant.

    I popped over to your blog after seeing several of your shawls on Ravelry. You do beautiful work and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

    ReplyDelete