I’m about to get back on my torch and make more “raku” glass beads. They are one of my best sellers and the color range that comes from this rod of glass is awesome. So I went looking around the internets looking for information to share with all of you about this glass and found some from none other than Lori Greenberg, the former Glass Arts Editor over here at Craft Gossip. So check out what she says about it…and then check out what Dawn Scannel says over at Lampwork etc…I personally think it’s best when it has been frosted with etching solution, but that’s just me…and most of my customers that buy these little beauties. I do know this about “raku” glass, it’s got silver in it and that’s what helps to make the magic happen. Playing with Bullseye’s french vanilla and silver foil you can get some of the same colors coming out. So it appears a bit of sulphur and a bit of silver and ta da…magic. Who knew chemistry could be so much fun!
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Gather Your Scraps for a Fun Wrap
Are you all tired of scrap knitting projects yet? I hope not, because I probably never will be.
This is one of those that was actually designed to be worked with scraps, though I’m sure you could use whole or partial skeins of a few different colors if you want a less scrappy look.
The Rock Salt Wrap by Nick Davis is mostly made with mitered squares (which is a fun technique to learn if you don’t already know how to do it). Make each square a different color, or alternate colors, if you don’t want to make it fully scrappy. The pattern actually suggests places where it would make sense to change colors and includes line drawing you could color in if you want to plan it out more carefully.
Because it’s mostly made out of squares you can easily alter the size by working more or fewer squares, or making them smaller or larger. The borders are worked in garter stitch and you could also make those wider, narrower or add more of them depending on the size of shawl you want and how much yarn you have to use.
Nick says their version took about 520 yards/475 meters of worsted weight yarn to make a shawl that measures 58 inches or almost 1.5 meters long and 14 inches/36 cm wide. This same technique would be fun for a scarf if you made it a bit narrower, or you could make a bunch of strips of squares and make a blanket.
Another thing I love about this pattern is that it calls for worsted weight yarn. So many scrap projects are made for lighter weight yarn, which is fine, but the vast majority of the knitting I do is with worsted weight so I always love seeing options that are made for using those leftovers. Of course you can also use lighter weight yarn if that’s what you have on hand.
You can get this pattern from Ravelry.
[Photo: Nick Davis]
Take Your Scrap Yarn on a Voyage
Use All Your Yarn Scraps on This Great Cardigan Knitting Pattern