I really like how this turned out. I have wanted to knit something with beads and this pattern always called to me. I wanted it to be a dark blue/green and this yarn fit perfectly. It looks like black, but you can see blue and green in it too. I wanted the beads to be very subtle. The effect that I wanted was what water looks like when moonlight shines on it. Little glimmers here and there.
Pattern:
Seaweed Stole from Needle Beetle
Yarn: Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud-Midnight (3.25 skeins)
Needle: #3 Clover Bamboo circulars
Beads: approx 140 gms of 6/0 seedbeads--I mixed beads from various different colors and had plenty leftover. I'm not sure how much I actually used in the stole. (iris blue, iris green, and silver lined green)
Finished size: 26.5" x 53"(not including 16" tendrils in either side)
Date started: 5/19/06
Date finished: 5/29/06
Notes:
-The pattern calls for 8/0 beads. I picked out an 8/0 bead that was too close in color to the stole. When I used those, they were lost in the yarn and you could barely see them. I switched to 6/0 of the same color and those gave me the effect that I wanted.
-I only did 10 repeats instead of 12 of the main body chart. I'm 5'2" and the stole is plenty long for me.
-It was a little tedious at first putting each bead on with a crochet hook, but I developed a rhythm after a while and it wasn't so bad.
Would I make this again--yes!
Changes if made again:
-I would use the smaller 8/0 beads, but pick a better contrasting color bead.
-I would try to make the pattern the width of 10 tendrils instead of 12. This stole ended up a little too wide.
Size reference: The couch is 80" and the stole reaches to either end with the tendrils stretched out.