Check out the decorative bells available for you through the cutwork art of embroidery. This is available for view at Secrets Of. You can navigate your way by choosing “Everything for Embroidery” clicking through “A Stitch and A Half” and selecting “Decorative Bells Embroidery Designs”. Aren’t they a beauty? These are shaped in the form of bells and could be used as table centerpieces or as part of your festive decorations. Some of them are available as appliques and the information on applique embroidery designs would come in handy here. All of the embroideries come in hoops in sizes of 4X4, 5X7 or 6X10.

Check out the 5X7 table centerpiece. The stitch count is 9614, height at 3.8 inches and width 6.6 inches. These are available in all machine embroidery formats namely ART, HUS, PES, PCS, SEW, VIP, DST JEF and the information on pc-machine embroidery would certainly help you understand the various formats. Have a great time livening up your decorations.

My friend, Sarah (of Knitting Tips fame) ran a contest for the best knitting secrets and she was flooded with some great tips on knitting embroidery. The best 5 ones are as below :

Loose and Easy – All knitting work should be done putting this in the background. Sumi writes, ‘I keep the first row tension loose and easy by casting on over two needles, but adding the 2nd needle only after the slipstitch.’ She notes you have to be careful when you are ready to knit to pull out the 2nd needle. Pull out the first one and Oooops! You’ll lose your first cast-on stitch.’

Manage Color Chaos – It is imperative that one manages the various colors that are available for knitting. Chrystine Martin writes, ‘knitting with hand dyed yarns?’ Be sure to use two hanks – alternate every 2 rows, as if you were making stripes. This will keep the color repeat random and not show where you change hanks.’

Magic Row Tracking – Anita Grosso sounds like someone who brings her knitting with her everywhere because sometimes she knits without bringing her knitting counters or pencil/paper. (!) This is the kind of tip that is just too clever for words. She writes, ‘when I need to put my work down, say on the 23rd row, I take my right needle and insert it into the 23rd stitch on the left needle as I stow it away. When I pick it up, count to the 23rd stitch, VOILA! I know what row I’m on.’

Power Knitting - Many knitters gain speed, symmetry, and same length by knitting, say either both sleeves or both fronts at the same time. But would you like to knit THREE times as fast? Tina Lee has found a way — she knits three skinny eyelash yarn scarves on the same l-o-n-g needles. She writes, ‘with 14″ straight knitting needles, I cast on 16 stitches of Skein 1. Push the stitches to the very end of the needle.’ Rinse and repeat for Skeins 2 and 3. This shortcut gives you more knitting than turning time, plus the scarves will have uniform tension and be the same length. Just remember to keep the yarns separate from each other (maybe even keep them in ziploc bags?)’

Binding off Viva La Crochet! – Lisa Hanratty combines a little crochet action while binding off. She substitutes a same-size crochet hook for the right needle. It makes it so easy! Instead of passing the first knit stitch over the second, you just pull the second stitch through the loop. I tried it and it turbo-charged my finishing.

That’s about it for the secret tips…If you want to read a good book covering various aspects of knitting, you must read “Knitting Tips”