Harry returned home a few weeks ago from his wild and wacky vacation at the Blur Bowling Ally in Tirana, Albania. If you click the link and watch the live webcam, look for his condo--a black box at about 1:00. Note the little stage at the top, where he entertained the bowlers with his newest gig--Gangsta Rap Noh, a tasteful blend of contemporary stylistic repartee and traditional Japanese dance. Frankly, I think a bowling alley is the perfect spot for his performance...the crash of falling pins is a lovely accompaniment to his, um, singing.
While he was resting, Harry spent his time working for my Etsy shop, The Gossamer Web. From a passing bowler, Harry managed to obtain some spring steel, a couple of files, and enough goat cheese to stock his pantry. The result: The Fleegle Beader, our answer to the crochet hook-floss threader-wire methods of adding beads to your knitting. (Sorry, Harry ate the goat cheese.)
After considerable debate, we decided to name it The Fleegle Beader, because I pointed out that The Harry Beader sounded ridiculous. However, Harry does star, along with other members of his extensive family, in the Ravelry ad. It took most of the day to get everyone lined up on the supersized beader handle, but we thought the ad turned out pretty well.
These beaders are available in two sizes.
The 0.8mm size is for designed #8 and #11 seed beads. It will hold about 60 #8 or 90 #11 beads. The picture below shows a mixture of #8 and 6mm faceted Czech glass beads with teeny, tiny holes. I like to use these beads as nupp replacements.
The 1.0mm size is designed for #6 or #8 beads with large holes, such as Delicas. It will hold about 60 #8 Delicas--my favorite bead for knitting.
The tip has a hook that will work with yarn as thick as heavy fingering weight.
6 comments:
That is a BRILLIANT idea. All the convenience of pre-stringing beads, without the floppiness!
Holy cow, that IS brilliant. Off to buy mine before I hit the border of my Echo Flowers Shawl.
Hey, maybe I can put the box of floss threaders back in the bathroom cabinet where they belong!
Absolutely brilliant...now please get Harry to invent a spill-proof container that will end my days of six million bead pick-up.
Very innovative. I like it.
I might accept one, on the basis that I actually named it. :)
No, really that's okay. I am just kidding. Throw your millions toward me, and whatever 10% floats my way...
I tried a beaded shawl once--frogged it. Too fiddly. But, on a whim, I bought the bigger size of The Fleegle Beader. Amazing. I sat down to try it out with a bead or two. Found myself unable to get up. Knitted an entire beaded row.
It works extremely well--that is, after I figured out how to get the protector off the tip. To any other neophytes, might be a good idea to practice taking the protector tip on and off a time or two before charging up the shaft with beads. Also a good idea to make sure the keeper is past the bend in the wire. If you don't have it past the bend, and you pull on the protector tip really hard, beads tend to fly.
I would love to see a video of you using one. Would help me perfect my technique. Although, I must say, it's pretty intuitive and it works really well. I do have a curiosity about what a bead spinner is and how you get the beads on the shaft.
Thanks for such a brilliant tool.
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