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Welcome all Bond Sweater Machine,
Embellish-Knit!, Cool Corder and Wyr Knittr owners to another issue
of the “Bond Buzz” e-newsletter!!
With the addition of two new
products and more to come, perhaps I should just say “hi”
to all knitters and crocheters…
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New
Products!
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Embellish-Knit! is designed
as a tool for knitters and crocheters and has patterns for
Celtic knots, frogs, flowers, tassels and more. Find out more
here. Click here for more
information on Embellish-Knit!
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The Cool Corders is for “tweens” or younger knitters
and has patterns (in the Cool Corder’s Mini-Mag) for “cool”
braided belts, floss bracelets, loopy scarves, scarf accents
and more. Click here for more
information on Cool Corder. |
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Tips
from the Experts at Bond America!
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We hope you’ve been
enjoying the speed with which you can make yards of knitted
cording with the Embellish-Knit! and Cool Corder. To spark
your creative consciousness, here are some super ideas for
using the cording on knitted projects.
First, using a lightweight
yarn (Caron®
Simply Soft® weight or lighter, such as sport or baby
yarn), knit a length of cording the finished width of your
finished project.
click
to enlarge |
For
Sweater Machine knitters, holding the cording
horizontal to the needle bed, pick up the first stitch
of the cording and put it on the first needle. Put the
last stitch of the cording onto the last needle and pick
up the stitches in between in the same way you’d
pick up stitches along a shoulder edge to knit a sleeve.
Then push the needles to FWP and knit the row slowly,
making sure the latches of the needles are open as you
knit across the row. The resulting edge is not only interesting,
there’s no binding off, as the edge will be finished
when your work’s removed from the machine. |
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hand knitters, mark the quarter sections of
the cording using safety pins, and determine how many
stitches will need to be picked up for each quarter section.
Pick up the first stitch of the MY through the first stitch
of the cording. (Note: this may be easier if you pick
up the stitch of MY using a crochet hook, then place the
stitch on the LH needle.) Continue across, spacing your
stitches evenly across the cording, until all stitches
have been picked up, then knit normally. |
For both
Sweater Machine and hand knitters,
try these ideas:
Make a length of cording twice as long as the finished
width of the project. |
| 1. Every
1 to 3 inches, make a loop of cording between the picked
up stitches. The loops can be very decorative on their
own, but you can also add tassels to the loop. |
| 2. Work
the same loop as above, but add large-holed beads before
picking up the stitches. Slide a bead down so it’s
positioned at the bottom of the loop between the stitches. |
| 3. Make
an overhand knot every 3” in the cording and use
as if it were plain cording. |
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Update
Rwanda!
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| I
don’t want to “leave” without telling you a bit
about my recent (June 28 through July 7) trip to Rwanda. |
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click
to enalrge
Geofrey Katsushabe of Rwanda Knits
assisting a new knitter.
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Never did I ever
imagine that 90 knitting machines would so change the
lives of both refugee women and Rwandan women who are
involved in the program!
Knitting in Rwanda
is becoming a very big deal, with the Rwandan government
giving the project its blessing – and is doing
a feasibility study to bu9ild regional knitting centers
and a finishing/traning center.near the airport (which
will be run by Rwandans already involved in the project).
There are now 400
knitters trained to use the Sweater Machine but only
90 machines in the country, so more machines are important.
We’re working on that.
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In
case you’re curious about what the refugee knitters
of the Grammy Gift Bag Scarves for Peace did with the
money they made from knitting all those scarves (650 in
5 days using 14 machines), after paying each knitter and
finisher, the cooperative decided to pool the money to
buy yarn at the local market and make sweaters for school
uniforms to sell in town. They also decided to pour a
concrete floor in their women’s center (it’s
currently dirt and stones). So knitting is truly becoming
a way of life for the women (and some men) of Rwanda.
There will be more photos of the recent trip up on the
FACED website
very soon. And you
can still purchase your Rwandan Scarf for Peace here.
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click
to enlarge |
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New
FREEWyr Knittr Projects!
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Wedding
Memories Photo Frame
For the Wyr Knittr™
C reate a lovely wedding memory frame using crushed wire for
an elegant accent
Skill level: Very
easy
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Wacky Wire Photo Frame
For the Wyr Knittr™
Your photos deserve the personal touch. Create a memorable
frame with a touch of coordinating wire cording accented with
contrast wire details.
Skill level: Very
easy
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Spring Tulips Scrapbook
Page
For the Wyr
Knittr™
Anything goes with scrapbooks these days. Stitching, beads,
why not wire? Add a special touch to any scrapbook page or
album cover with just the right wire accent.
Skill level: Very
easy
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This “Buzz” is a bit
longer than normal, but I hope you found it interesting and useful.
Until next time,
HAPPY KNITTING!
Cari Clement
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