Connecting with Like Minds

Art-making in public is a great way to meet people of like minds who value creativity.

Every time I take my portable studio out into the world and paint, knit, or do beadwork in public spaces I meet someone who teaches me something new or shares a story.

Sometimes those chance meetings are truly serendipitous and I connect with someone who not only values creativity and knows the joys of a productive life, but also shares my belief that healthy communities depend on the wholistic integration of the arts into every aspect of daily life and culture.

This morning was beautiful with blue skies and a clear view of the snowcapped Sangre de Cristos Mountains beyond the Santa Fe Rail Stations. The light was glorious and made the New Mexico Rail Runner shine and everyone remark how beautiful the day was. After setting out my paintings and paints and brushes and painting for a few hours, I took a break outside on the concrete benches outside in the sun and worked on fixing the mistake in the Beaded Bag visiting with people going into The Station for coffee or pastry or passing to and from the train.

A group of ladies a decade or so older than me stopped for awhile and talked about their Monday night knitting group and beading with beads. A young grad student and her articulate beautiful children paused to talk about knitting and we chatted for awhile about how the family had lived in Brazil last year while she did field work for her degree and how struck she was with the integration of art into every aspect of life in the Afro-centric community on the northeast coast of Brazil geographically opposite Sierra Leone in Africa.

She said the people in the community didn’t have a word for art because it was seamlessly integrated into every aspect of their lives and I shared that there is no one word for art in any American Indian languages for the same reason.

Turned out we had lots to talk about. She brought up bell hooks who I was lucky to meet and hear give the keynote address at the WCA Conference in NYC. I shared that one of my most precious memories is spending time sharing food, stories and laughter with Audre Lorde and a few of the other presenters at the National Women Studies Conference at U of M in Minneapolis in the late 1980s after Audre gave the most inspiring keynote speech at the plenary session. It was great to share that memory with someone who knows how important Audre Lorde and her writing and activism are.

We agreed to meet next week to knit and her nearly 6 year old daughter promised to bring her yarn and needles too. The Station is a nice place to work and I never fail to meet someone who broadens my understanding of the world. The owners and staff are urbane, former art museum workers who attract a diverse crowd from locals to train riders. Weldon and Penny are excellent hosts and make a great cup of coffee or tea. The pastries are delivered daily from Zodiac on Old Santa Fe Trail and the puff pastry is authentic. Take it from a former pastry line croissant and brioche assembler at Voila Bakery in New York City. The only place that makes a better croissant is Clafoutis on Guadalupe near Paseo de Peralta. Pastry aside, the light and energy at The Station makes it a great place to make art in public and meet interesting creative people.

Charleen Touchette
www.TouchArt.net
www.OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
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Photos by Charleen Touchette 2009

Knitting with Beads

Knitting with Beads

Ever wondered how those beautiful sarongs and bags embedded with colorful beads are made? If you're like me and thought you could never learn to knit with beads, you will be pleasantly surprised by how easy it really is to do once you learn a few tips.

Last summer, I was captivated by the multi-colored beads in a knitting store in Santa Monica near where we were staying while my husband did a training for a week in June. My plan was to make a rainbow beaded sarong for a cover-up for the LDK Rainbow Bikinis I knit for Scarlett and Liesette.

Despite my good intentions, and the 150 delicious beads waiting for me, the instructions I found online for knitting with beads, overwhelmed me. The words just didn't make sense and there weren't any pictures to describe the new technique.

I kept procrastinating about tackling this new technique for months while the shiny beads teased me from their nest in the birchbark basket on my table.

Now 9 months later, I overcame my trepidation and figured out how to do it. The LDK Beaded Sarong is now about a fifth done with 111 beads knitted into the bottom section.

Realized other handworkers might have the same trouble I had when attempting to learn how to knit with beads. So, I started a small beach bag yesterday and photographed each stage to show how to do the technique. (See photos above.)

The trick is to first string all the beads onto your cotton yarn using a regular sewing needle with a short piece of knotted thread.

One photo shows how to attach the thread to your cotton yarn by making a loop that catches the plies of the yarn. This takes patience and a few tries, but the beads string onto the yarn easily once you get the thread attached.

String the beads onto your cotton yarn in reverse to get the pattern you want.
Notice how I strung the beads on backwards in the first photos, then had to re-string to get the pink beads on the bottom of the bag.

Once you have all the beads on your cotton yarn, pull out enough yarn to cast on your stitches and purl one row. For the sarong I strung 111 beads for 122 stitches. For the LDK Beaded String Bag, I strung 54 beads for 46 stitches, which is knit in the round with a knit row instead of a purl row between rows with added beads.

Cast on stitches. Lace pattern has 22 stitches plus 1 stitch at end of row for flat fabrics like the sarong.

Row 1 - Purl entire row. (For bag or projects knitted in the round, add 2 stitches at end of row, knit this row and all rows between knit rows with beads.

The 3rd row starts adding the beads and begins lace stitch pattern.
Row 3 - Knit 1 with bead. Yarn Over. * K 2, YO, K3 tog. S, K tog. YO, K2, YO. Repeat from * to end or row. K 1 with bead.
Row 4 – Purl entire row for flat projects. (K entire row for projects knitted in round.)
Repeat Rows 3 and 4 until all beads are knitted then continue pattern without adding beads until your project is desired length.

You can use any lace pattern. Just add beads at beginning of pattern and at end of row.

Hope you enjoy knitting with beads as much as I have.
Wish you all a life of “purposeful fulfillment” and creativity.

Charleen Touchette
www.TouchArt.net
www.OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
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Photos by Charleen Touchette 2009