Rainbow's end

Today I decided to do a small, fun, relaxing project, using techniques I'm already familiar with so there would be more making to be had. In complete contrast to the last few days of fine wire and jewellery, I opted for a bit of rainbows, sunshine and comfy knitting.

There's a pattern I've been saving on Ravelry, a lovely rainbow bag made with simple short row shaping that's been calling my name for ages, so today I decided that this was the day! Yarn - check, needles -check, pattern -  ah, you have to buy it, but it's not a lot. Do I want to buy a pattern when I could probably work it out? Now, after learning from the wire bracelet project that sometimes it's ok not to reinvent the wheel every day, I decided, yes, why not? Have a day off from the working out and just enjoy the knit. So I did. :)

A lovely rainbow of colours to work with, perfect. The rainbow bag dimensions were 30x45cm and I thought, that's a two day project for sure. Maybe I can make a mini one? So, sure enough, I could halve all the calculations for the mini rainbow bag and we were off. I was thinking by then that this mini rainbow bag would be just perfect for my 2 year old niece - or a big kid like me :)

After knitting faithfully to the pattern for a while, I began to notice some things didn't seem right. The overall shaping with increases didn't seem to be logically placed and my lovely oval short row coloured panels were shifting off to the left alarmingly. I re-read the pattern to make sure I'd not made a blundering mistake. Nope. No mistake. Somehow the increases needed to make the bag bigger at the middle weren't staying in a straight line up the centre of the bag - major problem. I'd already knitted 3/4 of the bag by then and I was not a happy bunny:(

So what to do now? Maybe a fresh look at it tomorrow will help me work out whether it's just me or the pattern that's the issue. Or, dump the pattern!! Oh, the irony though - if I'd just written a basic pattern out I'd have been fine, lol! I might just do that anyway and brush up my pattern writing skills:) So, today's lesson has been sometimes you should trust your instincts when you know your knitting is going squiffy. And maybe the pattern isn't always right.

Well, the big kid or the little kid will have to wait just a bit longer for their bag full of rainbows but it will happen I'm sure. There's always a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow now, isn't there? :)

Turquoise beaded ring

Today's creative challenge has been all about pushing the wrapping a bit further, and this ring has certainly taught me many things today! In a good way:)

I saved this picture ages ago on pinterest and posted it on Facebook about february time with lots of oohs and aahs:) I just loved this ring. The silver, the beads and wrapping - just gorgeous! I certainly never thought I could make one myself at that time. But as my collection of wrapped jewellery images grew, I realised that maybe, if I started to learn some jewellery skills, it might just be possible, maybe!

Recently my lovely friend Jane, gave me the opportunity to attend a sea glass ring course at her studio/gallery. It was a huge crash course in silversmithing techniques for me and I made a complete ring from scratch  - soldering, setting the stone, everything. In one day I had a ring - a properly made ring - and from that day I've looked at jewellery making as much more of an achieveable thing. (more on that course soon!)

So today, as I was thinking about what I'd be inspired to make, someone 'liked' that very ring on my facebook page. And I thought, why not? You've just started with wire wrapping yesterday and this would be a perfect way to take those skills further today - and it looks a small project:)

Oh the wise words of my friend Marilyn only a few days ago!! She said that sometimes the smallest projects can take the longest time. Well, today this little ring as proved that very point but I have learned SO much.

I decided as I've no silver anyway that this could be a copper ring to go with my spiral bracelet of yesterday. Then I spied a lovely turquoise stone I've been meaning to make something with but didn't know what and thought, a-ha! Turquoise, amethyst pearlescent glass beads, copper and swirls. Perfect!

In fact I've nearly made two rings today as my first one helped me realise the surrounding wire wasn't strong enough for wrapping, also that shaping the wire into a ring shape with spirals first wasn't the easiest way to wrap and bead the ring. In fact, the wire got so tangled around the spirals it became a nightmare and my beautiful ring shape, spirals and all, got rather squashed. So, plan B! I treated it more like a flat project to be shaped after the stone and the first lot of beads had been set in place. Only then did I curve it into a ring shape so I could start letting the wrapping create and hold the form. And it worked!! Happy dance!

I've noticed today and yesterday that the practical working out takes more time than the actual wrapping. After I got this beginning part in place it grew quite quickly and I was at the swirls before I knew it. And then it was done! Quite suddenly I was finished. And I have a ring, a lovely ring just like the one I loved on pinterest all that time ago:))

There isn't a pattern for this but I used the original image as a basis for construction, also the designer sells her rings on Etsy here and has fabulous photographs of her work. All her jewellery is exquisite and she really has been an inspiration to me. If not for that one photo I'd never have attempted to make something I love so much.

See you all tomorrow! x

Copper swirls

Creative day 3!

Today's project is all about the simplicity of repetitive shapes and colour - and shinyness:) I found this beautiful copper armlet pattern on Pinterest, and I've been just waiting for the chance to experiment with wire again.  Looks like a day project to me!

If you're familiar with working with wire, then you may feel quite happy working this out by eye. If not, don't worry! There is a tutorial you can buy for £2.63/$4 on Etsy so you can work through this step by step. The designer sends you the tutorial so this isn't an instant download but she will get it to you within 24 hours. Mine was super quick. I went for a quick food break and when I came back it was there in my inbox. The pattern itself is very well written and with easy step by step instructions and the attention to the little things is great - like good finishing so there are no sharp edges so the wire won't scratch you arms.

This is quite a simple construction  - one spiral shape repeated, then interlocked and wrapped into place. Oh it sounds easy doesn't it? In theory! Trying to get all the spirally shapes exactly the same so they would fit together perfectly did have its moments, lol! Sometimes the attention is in the detail. For this design the balance of the regular shape with equal spacing of even wrapping makes this so effective.

I did spend a bit of extra time trying to learn how to create even spirals. In fact, that part took the longest. When you aren't covering the wire with crochet, the spiral evenness suddenly matters a lot more. So I took time and experimented till I got the hang of it. Still not perfect but getting there. The wrapping was surprisingly quick though. Again I took a little time to make sure the wraps were even and tight. Mine got better as I went along but the first one looks a little dodgy now. But then I can be a bit of a perfectionist sometimes. I'm looking at it now and can't find the slightly less well wrapped part so - bonus!

I do love this bracelet. Copper, wrapping and spirals, it could have been designed just for me:)) I'm going to try another one with smaller spiral units soon. I'd love to see this with lots of little copper spirals - wouldn't that be lovely too?

So it's been mostly a gentle creative day today. I love the fact that now I feel comfortable with the basics of wrapping strands and know how to get a quality finish to the joins, I can start adapting this technique to my own work and see how that goes.

I've been intending to expose the copper core in my crochet vessels and add more complexity to the form with lots more strands. This wire wrapping technique would be an ideal solution to bind them together and stengthen the 3D form so I can achieve larger and more organic shapes. My brain is busy, busy,  thinking about all the ways to integrate this and it wants to start sampling straight away. So who am I to say no? I've got a pretty full day tomorrow with less time for a full day project so this would be a perfect time to see where the creative muse takes me, don't you think?

See you all tomorrow!

Waves and ladders

Summit shawl sample

Day 2 of the creative challenge. And what have I been up to today? Well, a little bit of experimenting with knit as you can see! This beautiful pattern is where I have happily lost most of today. I was racing the light for last minute photos, I got so involved!

Ok, so knitting a shawl in a day is a bit much, but I have made a decent sample to explore the pattern construction. This lovely pattern Summit shawl by Mandi Harrington has been sitting in my Ravelry to-do list ever since it came out - March 2010 to be exact - so quite a wee while. In fact, all the bigger projects seem to gather dust there so I thought, wouldn't it be nice to just allow myself to do a little bit, as a tester, to see if I like it enough to make it. I love working out the construction of complex knits but kind of lose interest if I have to knit metres of the stuff! So this way I get the best of both worlds - I enjoy the doing but there's no pressure of a Finished Object.

And I've always loved the look of this one. It's beautifully designed and aimed at slightly higher than a beginner. The pattern says 2 out of 4 for difficulty so it looks complex but it only requires you to know a few of the easy stitches like M1, Kfb, Yo. The thing that makes this pattern so unusual is its use of short row knitting - where you knit each 'wavy' strand individually back and forth in sections - rather than a full row. Once you get your head around that, it makes a lovely logical structure. How happy am I when that happens? Happy happy:) - when you 'get' the pattern and know exactly how it will unfold from then on in. Harmony, that's it. Perfect harmony.

I wanted to try a few things out with this pattern too. Firstly to see how the short rows would affect a variegated hand dyed yarn and secondly if I didn't use the suggested silk how would it flow or drape in contrast. As to the first, you can see where the green sections meet the blue ones so although it isn't terribly contrasting, I think a semi-solid yarn would give the best effect, especially if you are going to spend the time dyeing your own like I do. So, good to know. Secondly, the handle of this fingering weight does have a lightness and won't slip as much when knitting silk but - well, silk is silk and who wouldn't prefer a silky draped shawl to a wool mix??

Despite our desire for expensive gorgeous silk, I think this will knit well in any smooth yarn and if it has a slight sheen or lustre to it, even better.  This pattern has an evening, dressing up feel to it so if I were to knit an actual shawl or smaller scarf, I'm thinking deep teals, reds or plums for me.

Casting on in sections                                                                        First ladder created

cast on row complete for my mini scarf (7 sections instead of 15) - all set up now for the first curve section

right curve

left curve

I've taken some photos as I went through each stage of the pattern so I can remember in the future how it's constructed. Hope this helps anyone who may be interested in trying this pattern out. After the initial set up section to get all the solid areas and ladders in place, you then develop the right curve section, then the left. That's it. You just keep waving those left and right curves and the pattern just appears. Wonderful!

This isn't a pattern to be knitting watching the tv though, so it was nice music as accompaniment today. Now I've got the construction clear in my head I've found it getting quicker and quicker to knit - which is excellent if you're going for full shawl size! One other thing I made myself do was double check the stitch count before dropping the stitch to create the ladder. It's much quicker to check again than have to reknit a dropped stitch in the wrong place:)  This lovely shawl is really worth the effort and just trust the pattern, it does work out perfectly, honest!

Tomorrow, I'll choose something that's a bit more manageable in a day, although I like the idea I can give you a follow-up on this too. I think I'll sleep well tonight - hope I don't see waves and ladders in my sleep!!

See you all tomorrow!

August's creative challenge

I have a plan. Yup, a doosie of a plan :) This poor blog has been stagnating of late, a sad reflection on my lack of creativity so........ to kick start my creative mojo, I'm setting myself a BIG goal. Ready for this?

Forget that we've missed a few days already in August, ok?  

Ok:)

So THE plan is I intend to make something every day for the rest of the month. There! Down on virtual paper for all to see. Now I have to do it! I know the track record is none too good of late so for all of you out there either picking yourself off the floor from shock or dealing with the stitch you've got from hysterical laughter, I'll just show you what I made yesterday to give you time to recover, ok? :)

So here is the lovely beaded bracelet I've been working on yesterday evening - aren't those beads so scrummy? I found the pattern on the 'Oh, I've lost a whole afternoon pinning lots of yummy pictures' place, Pinterest :) Come join me if you love the pinning! Anyways, you can find the tutorial for this over at the gossiping goddess blog. Seed beads, jump rings, a button and a bit of cord for threading and that's it. The fun is all in playing with different beads to see how different the pattern looks. I tried three different versions from coloured wooden beads, chunky glass and finally these pearly seed beads. The seed beads won hands down, although I'd like to try a chunky boho, hippy version with turquoise stones too - ooh, yum!

You can find another gorgeous version of this design by Marilyn at Room on the left. I love her choice of beads - just stunning - go look!

Pearlescent seed beads - 4mm

When you start beading you think you have a lot of beads in your stash and suddenly it dawns on you - you. just. don't.

No way, not even close. I thought 68 x 4mm beads, sure, I must have plenty of choice. But lots of all the same beads, there were none. Odds and ends, yes, but nothing on that scale. And jump rings? Whew, I had some left over from making earrings a while back but that's me cleaned out already just making one bracelet. Time for buying some more on ebay I think!

So I went a wee trip to get some nice sparklies to work with and these were the aqua ones I decided to use. Being a newbie to beading, I just read 4mm and concentrated on the colours to buy - as you do:) When I got them home, I realised they weren't round and the hole is definitely off centre. The label says 4mm magatama (blue lined aqua AB). I hope this makes sense to someone so they can explain it to me!! Not that it mattered too much in the making as I quite like the good fit the teardrops make. It gives the bracelet a very compact and dense feel which I might not have discovered otherwise. I like happy accidents!

Sparkly :)

I'm in two minds about the choice of dark cord. Both the beads and button are transparent so the dark core is that much more obvious and gives a deeper bluey/purple band from a distance - which I rather like. A lighter cord would work better but then would it give as good contrast? It also gives a more relaxed feel to the bracelet, which maybe doesn't work so well with the jewel-like beads. It will be fun to experiment more. Overall though it looks great on and is so comfy to wear - good fit, lightweight and, of course, sparkly:)

So I'm running on a creative high right now, yay! Which I don't want to lose, nooo :(  So do cheer me on for a full-on creative August. I'm leaving the techniques open - it may be crochet tomorrow or sketchbook doodles, or just experimenting with a new stitch, as long as I keep on making! Suggest away if you've come across a new knit, crochet or jewellery tutorial or stitch you think I might like - or join in to keep me company, that would be cool! Creativity likes company :)

I have no idea as yet what tomorrow will be so this should be fun!! See you soon :)

Viking knit

Viking knit tutorial - Designer de Bijuterii

Hang on to your seats folks, I'm blogging two days in a row :)

At last I've found a tutorial for viking knit! I've seen a lot of knitted/crochet type jewellery and small 3D forms around recently, all saying they used viking knit or an 'old crochet tradition' handed down the generations.... :) but no 'how-to' to help me on the road to experimenting. So I tried out knitted i-cords, crochet i-cords, french knitting on those lovely dolls with with wire pegs on top, trying to work out just how it was done but they never gave such an even finish as this technique seems to. Came pretty close though but not quite so good. So this was the one I wanted to try but could I find a free tutorial? Nope.

 

As is the way of things, I put it to one side and wrote it down on my list to research when I had a free moment - as you do. Or in the real world don't do! And then forgot about it. But today, whilst surfing Pinterest, the land of all good images, tutorials and inspiration - and way too many cake recipies:) - I found a wire bracelet tutorial. I clicked the link which lead to this wonderful site just FULL of wire wrapping tutorials; from making simple hooks for earrings to jewellery, chainmail, metalworking, weaving and steampunk. What a treasure trove of a find! If you enjoy creating and working with wire especially, then this is the place to lose a lot of time!

The downside is it isn't written in English but don't let that put you off. I read through the tutorial and I could easily make out the tools needed and the wire thickness, and the how-to instructions were very clear through the excellent step by step photographs.

So this has just moved up to near the top of the experimenting list I think. If any of you try it out, I'd love to hear how you got on too.

Wires, pliers - check. Going in.... :)

At the harbour

Don't you just love it when you find great textures and colours when you're out and about - and just happen to have your camera to hand? I was ambling back to the car parked on the harbour quay at Penryn after spending a lovely afternoon catching up with a friend - yup, tea and cakes were involved;) - I was pleasantly tired,  head focused on getting home when I suddenly 'saw' all these lovely textures and colours around me just literally a few feet from the car. Sad to say I've parked here quite a few times now and hadn't stopped to appreciate the real beauty of my surroundings before - I need to get my creative antennae working again :)

It was a beautiful still evening so there were lots of slow ripples and slightly wavery reflections of the boat masts on the water to capture too. And it was soooo quiet. Really peaceful and relaxing with only the occasional seagull and the quiet clunking of the boats and masts in the background.

 

And of course there were lots of tangled ropes, rusty chains and a very rusty barnacled anchor at the quay edge to photograph. Many close-ups of textures, colours and flaky layers of rust were taken and I've already got some lovely ideas for experimental dyeing and stitch, erosion and weathering..... I'm letting it all percolate in the brain for a while and see what comes out!

And I just love this boat! Maybe it's the strong aqua colour but it's so typical of a harbour scene. Reminds me of a jigsaw picture actually ;) It may be a bit twee but it's very jolly. I loved all the tall towering masts too and managed to get a few shots in before the light went.

Clink, clink, nice and quiet. Time to pack up and make my way home again. I'll be back another day. That's the beauty of nature, it will always be different every time:)

Crochet lace scarves

Goodness, hasn't January just flown by? I'd best get blogging again - can't have last year's post sitting at the top this long! So how have you all been? The creative ideas flowing for 2012? I have had lots of experimental ideas going on but nothing actually finished as yet to show you. I'll take some progress pics as soon as the rain stops and the light is better so you can have a peek:) But I can show you a few crochet lace scarves that were being finished off for presents that had to remain under wraps then.

In all, I'm on my fourth one of these - yes, that pattern is addictive!!  - and they are perfect as a tv project now I know the pattern. The stitch is one I found in a chinese stitch pattern book so just a diagram to work from but crochet symbols are universal so it's all good. I liked the openness of the fan construction and how it gave a lacy, delicate feel despite being 4ply or Dk weight yarn. I haven't tried a very thin fingering or lace weight with this yet - could be very interesting to see how that turns out. Light gossamer feel I think, but the pattern may be too uniform and repetitive on that finer scale. Worth a try though, don't you think?

This version uses Debbie Bliss silk and gives such a beautiful sheen and handle. Gorgeous and soft as a scarf too. I'm on my second silk version right now using the powder blue colourway - very yummy to work with. Shame it's an expensive yarn option! The green version above is a DK acrylic that's very soft to the touch. It crocheted up very quickly and made a slightly bulkier and snug scarf. Loving the 'appliness' of that green:) Is that a word?? :) Anyways, you know what I mean!

A little close up of the fan pattern for you. I haven't got any photos of the scarves on as yet to show you the length etc but they are little wrap around the neck ones which you can tuck into your jacket or pin with a brooch. I did consider permanent button fastenings but the scarf draped too much to make them stay in place nicely so I abandoned that idea pretty quickly. Would work well with a good strong cable wrap pattern though..... more ideas;)

So that's all the christmas stragglers done and dusted so now I can start off  this year with new work and ideas that are on the go right now. Fingers crossed for decent light for photos tomorrow - a little experimentation and playing going on:))

Till then, 

elaine x