My third, and still nowhere near my last. Made for a very sweet friend, who chose the yarn herself and sent it to me, so I could knit it up. My pleasure, entirely.

TASSEL TUTORIAL
A word of warning: this is word-y, because I put all the little hints I’m using myself in here, and I’m pretty sure I’m not even using the right technical terms. This is how I do them, I know there are probably a 1000 other ways to do it, but this works for me. And I’m putting it here just as much for myself, because I always seem to dread doing these, but if I do it, using this method, it’s really not that bad - in fact, it’s quite satisfying ;)

ETA: I was just reminded who taught me this to start with - and credit where credit is due: Hanne’s tutorial was what helped me out the first time I did these. I have since added little quirks of my own, so I feel it is okay to put it up here - and also, Hanne’s post is in Danish, so at least here’s a little something for those of you not fluent in our funny language ;)

HERE GOES:
Start by twisting a lenght of yarn (I used about 1.5-2 meters, and in this case, three strands of the lace), eventually folding it back on itself so you get a rope-like string. These will be the strings - lets call them twisty strands - you use to finish off the tassel, and also what you will use to attach the tassels unto the shawl. DO NOT secure the finished string with a knot just yet - that will make it really hard for you to pull it through itself later on. Make one of these for each tassel you’ll be making.

Put two credit cards together - I use two because they’re a bit sturdier this way, and also, there’s a nifty space between them you can use for cutting the yarn later. I like the size of tassel I get when I use the credit cards, but really, you can use anything, as long as it has a size you want your tassel to be. Just make sure you will be able to slide the yarn off afterwards, and make sure it’s pretty even, so the tassel will not have longer threads on one side than the other.
Now start winding your yarn around the credit cards - I always have way more lace left than fingering, so I do something like 10 rounds of fingering, then 30 rounds of lace. Make sure you distribute them close together, and evenly - you don’t want to carry the yarn diagonally across the credit cards, because this will mean some of your threads will be longer and will peek out of the tassel in the end (you can of course trim later, but if you want to save yourself the trouble ;)) I do about 150 winds (about 1/3 fingering, 2/3 lace), give or take.

Now, there are two ways to proceed: you either use your twisted strand of yarn straight away, or you secure your ‘yarn winds’ with a little extra yarn. I found using the extra yarn gives me the most even tassels afterwards (they only need very little trimming), but if you’re lazy, like I sometimes am, skip it. Either way, pull it all the way up, so it’s on top of the credit cards, sort of between them, if at all possible.

Here’s the fun part: cutting! Sneak your scissors in between the two credit cards, and with as few snips as possible, cut the yarn. Before you do this, make sure your yarn is bundled nice and tight, and try to avoid it slipping or spreading too much as you knit. It is when it spreads out, you get strands of uneven yarn, making for an uneven tassel. And you do NOT want an uneven tassel, do you? ;P

You now have a terrible lot of unusable yarn, should you regret what you just did!! a little lot of yarn, secured with a string. If you haven’t already attached your twisted string, now’s the time. Thread it on a needle and put it around your little bundle, securing it onto itself by pulling the loose end through the loop you created when you twisted the twisty strand back on itself (I hope the photo shows what I mean!) Once you’ve done this, fold the bundle onto itself, keeping the loop hidden in the middle of the bundle, effectively putting your twisty strand in the middle of the bundle.

edit: don’t fold it unto itself - I just re-did this part, and when you fold it, you risk making your tassel even more uneven (yes, I’m pretty adament your tassel doesn’t end up uneven ;)) Rather than folding unto itself, carefully slide your twisty strand so that the loop is hidden in the ‘original’ fold - this will make your threads stay put where they were intended. Now, continue :)

Using the needle, drag the twisty strand out in the middle of one of the sides with yarn strands, a centimeter or two from the top of the tassel. Twist the twisty strand around the top of the yarn bundle several times, lastly securing it by threading it through on of the twists and letting the twisty strand come out at the top of the tassel. If it needs it, trim the bottom of the tassel with scissors.

Voilá! You can now secure your tassel to the shawl! Once you’ve done so, and you want to cut the twisty strand, make sure your secure it with a knot or something similar - it may not un-twist, but I like to do this, just in case ;)

Happy tassel’ing!

NOTES
- ‘cause even though it’s my third, I keep learning!

• Quantities used: For body: 55 grams fingering 35 grams lace For edging: 37 grams fingering 12 grams lace

DIARY
45 grams fingering left
65 grams lace left
- Before starting border. Less than usual, but before doing an extra repeat, I had 60 g. fingering, which seemed like way too much. Perhaps I will have to adjust the number of snips a bit…

351 sts ~ 58 snips

9 snips ~ 5 g
54 snips total
53 g lace left
8 g fingering left

Number 2 of 12 shawls in 2013;-)