Want to add a little extra something something to your glass? Maybe some metal or perhaps bubbles? I was playing with bubbles today. Love bubbles. My favorite way to create bubbles in fused glass is to take two pieces of reeded glass and place them face to face, criss crossed and then fuse. Perfect bubbles. Rows and rows of perfect bubbles. But what if you want something more random? Try a bit of baking soda. Some people make a thin paste with baking soda and water, such as Susan Hutsko, or you can try what I did, which was sift it on. Tomorrow I’m going to try a thin paste too. I did let the glass get too hot and had some out of control, giant bubbles. Not good. Ask Mr. Google about it and you can find a few sites with information. And check out what some of them say about metals too…
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Twist Your Stitches for a Fun Vest Knitting Pattern
In the past few years I’ve developed an appreciation for vests that I never had before. I had knit a few, and I liked them OK, but I guess I just didn’t fully embrace the layering possibilities that they can provide.
You can wear a vest over a long sleeved or short sleeved shirt, over a dress, even on top of a shirt but under a sweater (or over a lighter weight sweater).
Some vest can even double as tops on their own, like the Traveling Vines Vest from Amy Gunderson.
This twisty project is worked in a DK weight yarn and is available in five sizes. The chest measurement ranges from 34 to 70.5 inches, or 85 to 176 cm. It’s worked flat in pieces and, because of the somewhat high scoop neck and arm holes, it’s totally fine to wear by itself or as a vest.
The fun part of this pattern is all the little twisted stitches and cables, which make a very interesting texture that’s fun to knit and to wear. The pattern includes a chart and a written pattern. They look like pretty small cables, but there are a lot of them, so it might help to have a cable project or two under your belt before trying this one.
You can grab the free pattern when you create an account at Yarnalia.
If you want to boost your cable knitting skills, check out my collection of fun cable knitting patterns. And since a lot of these twists are small, you could also use this project as an opportunity to learn how to make cables without using a cable needle. And you can find more easy vest knitting patterns here, and get a little more of the story about how I learned to love vests here. Mostly it has to do with not wanting to knit sleeves, which I relate to a lot right now as I wonder if I could pull off a one-sleeved cardigan.
[Photo: Amy Gunderson]