In September 2011 I was experimenting with ways to make jewelry from buttons without destroying the button. One of Grandma’s pet peeves was when buttons had been glued or cut to “upcycle” them (she was a button collector).
I came up with a wire wrap that utilized a four hole button, making it into a link component.
I actually took production photos for this necklace, for which I am now very thankful.
I tried cutting this shape from purple heart, but it was too brittle and crumbled coming out of the machine. The plywood is a little better; it still has some flex but still breaks easily with the thinness of the design. As I experiment, I hope to learn solid design parameters as applied to laser cuts. Let the experiments continue!
I hope y’all have a year full of creativity and purpose! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope it brings some inspiration and amusement.
My mother-in-law asked me to take a look at a broken bracelet. It is a lovely piece with metal beads and a metal focal, that was strung with elastic. The elastic had been knotted and fitted with knot covers that then connected to jump rings, and those knot covers were where the elastic failed. Knot covers are risky jewelry components. They work well for silk strung lightweight beads with a large solid knot that will hold inside the knot cover. Elastic is hard to knot securely, especially at the end. Metal beads are also hard on both elastic and silk, and tend to fray the stringing material faster than smooth beads.
Rather than risk another elastic mishap, I switched the bracelet to a clasp style. The focal actually works well to receive a lobster style clasp. I used 49 strand beading wire with double crimp beads for durability and added some coordinating metal beads to make enough length that the bracelet is loose when clasped.
I can’t guarantee the bracelet won’t break again. It is one of the reasons I don’t make and sell jewelry anymore: even well made jewelry wears out and is prone to breakage. I don’t mind this kind of fixing, though.
The other reasons I don’t make jewelry: over a third of booths at every craft show I’ve been to sell jewelry, and I don’t wear necklaces and rarely bracelets so I’m not even advertising my own work.
I crocheted my hand spun camel yarn into a beanie style cap with ribbed band. I used a 2.25mm crochet hook and a double crochet for the fingering weight yarn, but found switching to a 3.25mm hook for the single crochet ribbing of the band made it feel more flexible and soft.
I thought I had plenty of yarn for a hat, but the yarn chicken squawked a challenge as I made the band. After I sewed the band together, I had only a few inches of yarn left. So there, yarn chicken.
Camel is a soft fiber, but my preparation still had some guard hairs and vegetable matter, so to make sure the inside was scratch free, I brushed it with a boars bristle brush. The brushing brought the soft fibers to the surface and gave it a lovely surface feel.
I made this for my father in law, and I did make it a larger size. My Dad has reported that my wool hats shrink with wear (a natural fulling effect, I believe), so I didn’t want it to get too small. I may have gone too large though.
When I started knitting with my three-ply hand-spun merino/alpaca yarn, I wasn’t sure how much I would have. So the plan was to go a flexible route. I intended to make a wrap around scarf with sleeves, but rather than start with the sleeves, which locks me into the pattern, I started with a moss stitch on the body of the scarf (sleeves can be added later). When I knit the scarf long enough to go around my shoulders, it was obvious that I wouldn’t have enough to knit the additional third and have sleeves, so I made the scarf section into a shrug by sewing it into a Möbius ring. The Möbius shape allows the shrug to fit the wearer both at the shoulders and the elbows. A straight tube has less adjustability.
I then knit two long fingerless gloves in a rib stitch. To keep the gloves even, I worked from both ends of the yarn cake with size 11 circular needles, working both gloves flat at the same time. When they were long enough (I didn’t run out of yarn this time), I sewed up the sides and left a thumb hole (many thanks to my crochet friend for the suggestion!)
The shrug and gloves have the same aesthetic as a scarf with sleeves, but with more flexibility for styling. And if you run out of yarn, at least there is one finished useable item.
Critters and Craft 