Star stitch bracelet (Jewelry Making Mojo Challenge)

The potato season began this week (meaning I'm pretty tired today after three days of work as the first days are the toughest what with getting up early and doing a lot of lifting and carrying). Knowing that it was coming up I knew it'd be impossible to tag along with e.g. the daily FusionBeads challenges, but I do want to have some creative challenges right now so I was hoping to be able to do the 12 weeks of Heather Powers' Jewelry Making Mojo Challenge. And today I planned to sit down with this week's challenge, Back to school. Not only planned, but managed to both start and learn a new technique -- even as both bed and books beckoned me and the other blog called for attention I made it my first priority today.

This week's challenge was, as the name Back to school implies, to sit down, find a project and make something inspired by it. Soon, I knew what I wanted to do. It was the perfect "excuse" or push to try a crochet stitch called star stich. I love those kind of decorative stitches or patterns, both crocheted and knitted. As I don't knit and don't really feel like learning it (no, I only learned how to crochet in school for some reason) the knitting stitches are more eye candy. Many crochet patterns are too, but this one was so interesting I wanted to give it a try even though it's many years since I did anything other than chain stitches.


Now, it should be noted that I haven't tried anything beyond chain stitches and slip stitches in over fifteen years. Nor have I even tried making a stitch like this. I used to stick to the basic stitches. A treble crochet stitch (US) or double treble crochet stitch (UK) was probably the most complicated one even tried. I also remembered that I used to have a very tight tension, something that would'nt work with this stitch. All in all, you can see why the result is far from brilliant. It's wonky and uneven, but I don't really care. Just need to practice more -- because I'm so going to learn more crochet stitches now.

As you can see in my pinboard, I've been looking at inspiring pieces, patterns and how-tos for star stitches lately, since before deciding to make it my challenge this week. (If you read my other blog, you just got the reason for why I posted this earlier in the week.) I used the video from Drops to learn the stitch by watching it several times and then printing the written instructions (available in several languages) to have by my side when picking up yarn and crochet needle. My projects to be inspired by was from B.Hooked and Made With Love, but as I wanted a light spring bracelet rather than a warm winter cuff, I decided to only make it two rows wide (= one row of "full stars").

First I did a test pieces in acrylic knitting yarn. Not the best yarn, but I wanted a full yarn, similar to the one used in the Drops video (also, it's one of few yarns I feel ok with "wasting"). Then it was time to choose a yarn for the bracelet. That turned out to be trickier as most of my yarns aren't designed for crocheting, seeing how I haven't really done it since I was a kid. Some novely yarns would also obscure the star pattern, making the stitch a bit unnecessary compared to a plain double crochet (US)/treble (UK).

After going through the stash, I settled for an expensive linen/viscose/cotton yarn in linen, green and purple.
It wasn't until after about four stars that I suddenly realised why it was the wrong yarn... The way the yarn was printed (yes, that's what the label says, not dyed but printed) and the way the stitch is made, the stars wouldn't be in one colour as they're completed first in the second row of crochet. A green star would be mostly green, but with the top in purple and taupe. It's not variegated as the yarn in the bracelet at the Made With Love blog, which makes a charming star stitch bracelet, it's a much bigger space between the different colours -- and it just doesn't work as well. Also, after making the whole length, I realised a star looks better in solid colour or just discreetly variegated colours, not in mottled colours as this yarn has in some sections.

But, then again, this was more of an exercise to boost my creativity and learn something new than about making a brilliant piece of jewellery so I'm not disheartened by the result. In fact, it just makes me want to make more of them! Better ones, both in yarn choice and in quality of technique. And it was sucessful enough for me to want to try other crochet stitches and patterns in the same style (especially puffy flowers/stars).

The bracelet doesn't have a clasp, i.e. button, yet. Not sure if I'm going to keep it, rip it up -- or perhaps make a second row of stars as I'm starting to think it might be a better choice (and it'd be interesting to see the difference). Right now it's just about a finger wide (doesn't have rule or tape measure here to measure it) so even twice as wide it wouldn't be too wide.


So all in all, while the result may be mediocre, it was a great and inspiring exercise that got me a bit hooked on crochet again!

Space-dyed fibre addict

 
So I'm a bead junkie since way back by now, especially when it comes to seed bead colours -- Gotta Catch 'Em All! -- and soon I became a copper junkie (though it's more base metals in general now). Then I got back into embroidery and drooled over every conceivable embroidery thread shade and type. I'm as addicted to embroidery threads as to beads now! And more specifically, I've recently become crazy about space-dyed or variegated fibres of all sorts. Preferably hand dyed.

Don't ask me why because I often end up not using them very often or, when I do, not using them in a way that specifically shows off the space-dyed effect particularly well. But I still can't help to drool over it. Guess it's the lovely colour combos all in one thread that does it. It's an instant colour palette inspiration. Maybe it's also because these threads are less common, more unique (especially the hand-dyed ones), or because they have more depth, the blending hues making them more attractive than the usual uniformly coloured embroidery threads. And maybe can add another thing to it as well: the fun effect you can get when beading with ombré or variegated/space-dyed stringing materials, something I've written about here.

It's not a totally new addiction -- I've shown tendencies in post like Embroidery threads for Christmas and More yarn. Not to mention One offs sorted -- and why mixed skeins are a fab challenge. And it's evident in this pinboard too. Space-dyed fibres also make me talk to myself as you can see here and here. But this time I've almost outdone myself: not being able to resist a 10 % off offer, I bought more. Heavy linen thread, matte 6-ply fine cotton, 12-strand silk, viscose gimp, braided silk and even a new mixed skein (If you don't know what that is, see photo above and the One offs sorted post linked to above). Couldn't stop drooling and just have to get my fix.

(Please don't look at that pic trying to figure out how much I spent on this one order... I'm a tad embarrassed, but at the same time I'm treating myself to some yummy supplies after 10-11 months of living as frugally as possible.)

Don't know how well it shows in the photos, but I just love how matte the 6-ply cotton is. Normally I'd say linen is matte (see fifth skein from the top in the above photo), but this thin thread is even more matte, making the colours feel like chalk or powder. Love it! Only mishap was that I thought the pastel skein was going to be a bit more like silk rods and not as pastel-y as they turned out to be, but the matte finish still makes it a nice buy. And you always need a few different accent colours when embroidering, not all colourways are for big areas. It can still be very useful.

The violet and blue silk cord (third from top) was also a choice I'm very pleased with, especially now that I'm trying to work a little more with blues. It'd be better for jewellery if it was thicker (seller doesn't have any thicker silk cord of this sort), but it still works in both embroidery and jewellery making.

12-ply silk is super soft and fluffy. I've bought a skein before (as seen here) or I'd be over the moon right now, telling you how lovely and beautiful it is. It really invites you to just sit and stroke it. And being silk, it has a nice lustre and makes the colours shine -- though it's of cause not a shiny as, say, filament silk.

Should I say something about the last two threads too? There's the viscose gimp, which turned out to a little too similar to a skein I already have, but with darker maroon and red hues so it'll probably find its use too. And I had to get yet another mixed skein just because it looked so nice in the photos. To be honest, I do prefer the mix of threads in Oliver Twists (top photo) than in Stef Francis' Texture Selection, they're the better choice for the jewellery maker in my opinion, but the colours seduced me. Can you blame me?

But it does mean one thing: now I really have to get a grip and at least start working more with them, not just treat them like eye candy as usual! If nothing else I have to invent a good reason for spending so much money on this...

Anyone else likes variegated/space-dyed threads? Do you have any good tips or suggestions when it comes to working with multi-coloured fibre to share? Or are you maybe in the same stage as me, just beginning to use it?

Bead Soup Blog Party 3rd Reveal

And so it's finally here, the third BSBP reveal. I signed up for BSBP again, not having joined for for a couple of rounds. Of cause that had made me very keen to participate again and I signed up -- completely forgetting that the dates could be in the middle of spring farming season. Oops! Of cause I couldn't know that the spring farming would start unusually late this year, but as luck would have it (for me), the reveal was postponed a couple of weeks so here I am, free from the potatoes and ready to show what I made with the lovely soup I got from my BSBP partner Noemi.

First, let's take a look on that spanish soup Noemi cooked up for me to work with.

You can read more about all the different ingredients here. It was a fab soup, but due to work, a workroom I couldn't work in (= no metalwork or techniques requiring a torch this time) and everything else that came in between, I still had my struggles with it. Mostly with getting ready in time with something I wouldn't be embarrassed to show anyone and that would make Noemi's soup justice. In the end, I ended up with four piece to show you today. Haven't yet used all the beads from the soup so there might be some "leftover posts" later.
 

First a quick (and hopefully enticing) sampler of what's to come below.

First up is the necklace made for the lampwork focal. I had matching fire-polished rondelles, but they were pretty tiny (as are most my beads, being used to working with dainty jewellery and seed beads) and there were only 30 of them. After going back and forth many times, I finally decided on just stringing them with dark green silk cord (in lieu of anything matching the chain) on a gunmetal chain.

Looking back at it, I should've added something to the last portion of the chain. Ran out of rondelles, but adding, say, some gunmetal beads would've looked better than just leaving it bare in the neck. Well, something to remember for next time, then.
 
And look at that wire wrapping -- you can tell I've almost only been seedbeading and embroidering these last couple or years!

For the next piece, I wanted to do something with the sweet little copper connectors and clasp, which are made by Noemi herself. Wanted to keep it simple in order not to overpower the connectors and this is what was finally settled on. Not the best chain to use -- if you want to try something similar, I'd suggest a small rolo/belcher or cable chain -- but the only one I had that matched the copper. As it was slightly boring with just the chain, I wrapped some dusky dark purple anchor embroidery floss around the links. Don't know if it made it better or worse! *lol* I do enjoy embroidery so threads and floss is something I like to add to my jewellery nowadays.

The chain was so uncooperative I almost gave up, thinking of turning the connectors into little charms with a bead dangle in one end (it would've included a maneki neko charm, sorry all catlovers who didn't get any cat jewellery here). But I persevered.

Third piece is a silk wrap bracelet. First I thought of altering the ribbon in some way, either embroidering it, smocking it or adding a beaded edge, but in the end it all came down to my wanting to try an idea. Now, I'll say right away that it's an idea that maybe looks nice, but wasn't as practical as intended.

The idea was to lose the clasp and use the rubber o-rings to tighten the ribbon ends, then tucking them under the ribbon as with other wrap bracelets. But the wrap part made it more cumbersome than practical -- next time I'll try it with a simple bracelet that doesn't wrap around the wrist several times. (Also, the focal was supposed to be black to match the o-rings, but I hadn't time to blacken it. Some of you might prefer the antique bronze colour it has now, though.)

And so, the fourth and last piece. I wanted to use those vibrantly coloured crackle beads, but couldn't think of anything fun to do with them last minute (made it yesterday). Ideally I wanted to keep them mixed with the fw pearls in the colour combo Noemi created, but some of my teal supplies kept trying to get my attention, wanting to play with the purple beads. Finally, I caved and created this simple leather necklace with beads dangling from waxed linen cord attached to the leather using lark's head knots.

That's all, folks! My creations for this year's edition of BSBP. Now be sure to visit my BSBP partner Noemi, who had this eclectic (and somewhat boringly coloured) soup to work with:

And of cause a huge thank you to Lori for hosting this great (in fabulousness and size) event once again! You're fab!

*

For a complete list of all participants in the 3rd reveal of the Bead Soup Blog Party, please visit Lori's blog here. As Lori makes her way through the blogs, she will replace the links with direct links to the reveal posts, making it easier for us who will take a long time going through all 200+ blogs in this reveal. 

You will also be able to find many of the creations from all three of the reveal on the official 7th BSBP pinboard at Pinterest.

Vaucresson rose necklace

In pretty much the last minute, I uploaded my entry in the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge for July. For a long time I couldn't think of what to do and figured I'd skip the challenge just as I've skipped or missed most challanges for months now. After playing with my stash or embroidery floss, yarn and ribbons this week, I finally got an idea last Friday: wouldn't it be a perfect opportunity to make a new ribbon flower pendant? I haven't made any for ages now and hopefully one will pass as an "art bead". The artwork that was the theme of the month, Morning in the Garden at Vaucresson by Edouard Vuillardit,  features some lovely white and pink roses that seemed perfect to translate into ribbon roses.

Bias cut silk ribbon is pretty flimsy so the flowers you make are very delicate. Just like the flowers in the paintings (though I admit in jewellery "delicate" and "flimsy" are not normally properties you strive after as it makes the piece difficult to use without damaging). I used hand-dyed pink and grey ribbon for the petals and then stitched the rose to a old rose ox dapped filigree. The metal adds some needed weight, makes it easy to attach bails or jump rings and protect the flower from some of the wear and tear.

The rose pendant is made from hand dyed bias cut silk ribbon, mounted on a piece of filigree. The necklace chain is made from space-dyed viscose gimp that I stitched into a three-strand necklace and added linen thead on which I knotted vesuvianite chips and yellow "jade" beads. It's a pretty simple necklace, which is of cause due to me getting the idea so late and finishing the flower even later (petals are easy to stitch, tricky to puzzle together to make flowers). That's the real reason, but it also makes the necklace look like the rose bush in the painting where the flowers sit on winding branches with few leaves.

From the palette I choose just to work with the pinks and greens with a hint of yellow, omitting the periwinkle/mauve/greyish blue tones eventhough I liked what they added to it. If I'd come up with my idea earlier perhaps I'd have time to think of a good way to use them, but of cause I had to come up with a last minute idea and had to think of a design on the top of my head.


Instead of the dull and simplistic collage I ended up uploading on Flickr, I initially wanted to make an inspiring and beautiful etc etc collage incorporating the painting that inspired the necklace, but I just couldn't make something nice today. This is what I ended up with and I'm adding it here more just to show the painting I'm speaking of than to show a good jewellery collage.

Yarn -- my latest obsession

I can become very easily absorbed by things, especially when I find a new type of material to work with. Yarn isn't new to me, but recently I found out there are some exciting -- almost exotic -- fibers out there that I'd never seen or at least never touched before. How about fibers made from freshwater pearls, sugar canes, corn, seaweed or milk? Add to that the fact I already love linen, silk and viscose/rayon/lyocell and there are so many yummy yarns I crave right now.

Not sure what I'd actually want to do with them. It'd be all for jewellery making, of cause. Not knitting or crocheting clothes, doilies, amigurumi or what ever else they do. I'd probably just string much of it. Perhaps braid, knot or wrap it in different ways. I'm thinking of buying hand-dyed rayon gimp as it seems the easiest to find a use for in my jewellery. And you buy it in small "embroidery floss-sized" skeins unlike those other yarns. Or perhaps some braided silk yarn, which is suitable for craft work, but I'm not sure if it's as shiny silky as I want it.

Can't buy anything right now, though, as I haven't collected my wages from the potato work yet. And even after I do that, I can satiate my cravings very well: some of the yarns are really -- and I mean really -- expensive and you can't exactly buy just 10 metres or so -- closer to ten times that length. A few year back, I figured if more people are like we there ought to be a market for buying balls of yarn and resell them in smaller packages to crafters, jewellery makers etc. Never actually delved into that, buy now I wonder again if that could be a niche to test. The gods should know I could use the money, but there probably wouldn't be much profit in it, right?

In the photo, can can see a linen and viscose blen yarn by Marks & Kattens called Venedig (= Venice), which I bought in Malmö yesterday. Garish colours for me, but I figured there were a lot of different colours I could use seperatly in it. So it was cheaper than buying two balls of yarn in colours that are more my style.

Hesitated and never bought any pure linen yarn, which a couple of the craft and yarn shops we visited had. Not sure how I feel about that yet. Better to wait or should I have seized the opportunity? Especially considering I don't have any specific projects that need it. My wallet says I made the right decision...

Autumn flowers lariat

With half a metre snow covering everything, there's no sign of spring flowers around here. Luckily, I have a lot of flower beads to look at instead. (Though, I rather see snowdrops right now.)

This is a short lariat I made last summer from flowers and leaves I just had to buy for the lovely autumn colours. Or, the flowers I bought for the clear warm colours, the leaves I chose because they were on sale. And sort of matched the flowers with their green-and-topaz and black diamond hues.

Flowers and put on headpins while the leaves are directly knotted to the cord. I've used three strands of dark brown vaxed linen, which was braided before the foral beads was knotted onto the ends on both sides, forming a heavy tassel. To prevent the braid from unravelling, I made an over-hand knot on both sides first, before adding beads. I also added groups of one flower and two leaves on both sides before making the lariat "tassels".

This was more of an experimental design so there are things I'm not completely satisfied with, but I like the colours and will probably make something similar in the future.

Flowers, berries and black iron

I like using blackened annealed iron wire fot its variegated, matte colour. Probably inspired by the fact that it is also a type of wire traditionally used in luffarslöjd/trådtjack, wirework made by bums in the early 20th century (they picked up surplus wire to work with, thus avoiding be arrested for vagrancy).

Above is an exemple of a creation I made after being given a bead challenge to make a picture frame. For it I used 0,7 mm iron wire and West-african flower beads made from recycled glass. The beads are very uneven, but very pretty. I had never done a frame using wire before so there are many things that could be done in a different way, but I still like it.


In the same challenge I also got to make a pen holder. Using the same 0,7 mm wire, I made this twined basket that remind me a bit of the baskets we used to pick potatoes in as kids working at our grandparents' farm. Not that it was decorated with flowers and leaves, but the sparse twisted wire is more or less the same. To make a dense bottom, stopping the pens and pencils from going through it, I used vaxed linen cord.

Then, in a word challenge, I got the word gooseberries. As soon as I got it I thought of my strangely coloured cat's eye beads -- and barbed wire. As gooseberry bushes only mean one thing to me: thorns!

Growing up in the countryside on a small farm, we still used the old-fashioned ways sometimes. This included using barbed wire instead of electric fences every summer when a couple of grandpa's heifers were grazing on our lands. We now have tonnes of that springy, errant wire in storage. It is difficult to work with, especially seeing I couldn't anneal it, but having held and pulled barbed wire since I was a toddler I was experienced enough to wrap it without being scratched more than once.

I only had a few cat's eye beads so I decided to make it autumnal, the last gooseberries for the season left on a near defoliated bush. I attached the berries and leaves using handmade iron wire headpins, stringed onto more wire, which I twisted together making a short vine. As you can see, the vine is separate from the thorny barbed-wire wreath.


Of cause I also make jewellery using this wire. More about that some other time.