Beads > Nupps

Nupps are not fun.  Nupps are like crazy elongated bobble stitches that require a lot of paying attention and having manual dexterity:

detail of Mariquita

And they are, as previously stated, not fun for me.  They are so not fun, I have basically stated "No New Nupps" as a rule for myself in all future knitting.  So what happens when Estonian lace comes a-knockin at your door?

Enter beads!  Beads are shiny!  Shiny = fun!

The act of beading is not as fun as having beads magically appear in your shawl, but it's a necessary evil.  The beads-instead-of-nupps for the Big Orange Beaded Beast are itsy-bitsy and I've been using a cut-up dental floss threader to add beads.  My newest WIP (pictured above) has slightly larger beads-instead-of-nupps, so I'm able to use the beading gadget method devised by my very clever friend.

Shawl #3 is on its way...  Shawl #2 will be on the blog tomorrow!