Month: April 2015

Wire and Beads

I finally “threw caution to the wind” grabbed a spool of 28 ga. Artistic Wire, an interesting collection of beads, and began randomly stringing 450+ beads.   The stringing happened over a few days, in between sewing a skirt from my pattern sloper, which by the way fits perfectly.  I digress for a minute…

I decided to line the skirt, and for the first time, use a Hong Kong finish for the seams cutting my own bias strips out of silk taffeta.

After the random order of beads were on the wire, I faced the hardest part of casting on with wire.

Knitting With Wire #3

 

I took a deep breath and got in my zen place and relaxed.  I let the wire do the work and realized I could bend the wire any which way I wanted.  At first, I wasn’t sure I liked the unevenness of the knitting and texture of the different sizes and shapes of beads.

Knitting With Wire #4_1

 

The more I knitted…the more I began to like the piece.

Knitting With Wire #5

 

The advantage of knitting with wire provides a perfect opportunity for manipulating the surface.  The sculptural possibilities are endless.

Ikat

My favorite fabric store in Berkeley, CA, Stonemountain and Daughter posted an interesting idea about sewing with Ikat fabric   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikat.

Ikat

I’ll be trekking up to the East Bay next week and can’t wait to stop by and check it out! Perhaps you’ll find the post interesting.   http://fabriclady3.blogspot.com/

Ikat #2

Never Enough Sea Glass

Sea Glass and Beads_1

I’ve always called the glass I find at the beach “sea glass.”  On occasion, acquaintances have referred to “beach glass.”  I didn’t know there is a difference between sea glass and beach glass. Sea glass comes from salt water and beach glass comes from fresh water. The difference in ph balance and action or lack of wave action alters the appearance of the glass.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_glass

Check out the home page of the North American Sea Glass Association for information and beautiful pictures of glass.   http://www.seaglassassociation.org/index.html

I’ve actually found a couple of marbles and noticed one is a tiger’s eye. Green glass dominated my most recent visit to the beach, along with a piece of pottery.

Sea Glass and Beads #3_1

After I finished knitting Adorn Thyself, (blog post dated April 2, 2015),  I went shopping for more beads.  I found strands of recycled glass beads.  Should I knit another bracelet or string a necklace?

Sea Glass and Beads #2

Adorn Thyself

Glass, pottery or plastic, a small decorative object with such beauty, history and economic power.

Beadalicious_1

Beads… All different shapes, sizes, origins and color.  I particularly like  German, Czech and Italian glass, especially millefiori from the island of Murano.

Beadalicious #4

Using Mouline DMC, 100% polyster made in France and Size 2 US needles, I strung an eclectic mix of beads.  The result is ornate, over-the-top, and beadalicious!

Beadalicious #7

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