Bohemian Scarves~ part 2.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to finish my post about the Bohemian Scarves.  Spring time means lots of time gardening and enjoying the beautiful weather.  But, here I am ready to share with you the last three of the scarves. 

This one was fun to do for a variety of reasons.  First of all I knitted in godets using short rows, and that was fun.  I didn't know how it would work out but I think it looks pretty good.  The godets are in this picture puctuated by the ribbon flowers.  When I embellished the scarf, after finishing the knitting, I pleated the godets on the back and stitched the ribbon flowers to the front.  I also knitted one section so that it had a notch which I filled with  the embroidered applique.  You can see it at the neck.  I was intending to add a strip of ribbon to that area but the applique looked better!

This is a beaded yarn over stitch I developed while playing around with beaded lace stitches.  The square bead mix blended perfectly with the yarn colors.  By the way, the yarn I used for this section is one of my favorite luxury yarns.  It's Alchemy's Silken Straw.  The colors are wonderful and the fabric it creates is very drapey and luxurious.

This scarf used Maggie Jackson's linen yarn once again.  That yarn makes up into a wonderful fabric and it has a rustic appeal that I really like.  Up at the neck, in the center, is another color of Silken Straw.  Love that yarn!  I had fun with some of the embellishments on this scarf.  In a home decorating book I had seen fabric covered wooden beads used as tassels on the corners of a pillow.   I really liked the idea and filed it away to use someday.  I decided to use them at certain points on this scarf. 

Here's a close up of the tassel.  I used a batik fabric and some beads that I had used in one of the sections of the scarf.  Those little dangles are so cute and really added some fun to the scarf.

The last of the scarves really isn't a scarf.  It sort of grew into a wrap.  I had accumulated several yarns in a turquoise/lime green mix, along with a lot of turquoise and lime green solids and tonal yarns.  Since that's one of my favorite color combinations I guess it's not surprising that I would have a lot of yarns in those colors.  Well, I decided to put them together in one scarf.  But, as I said, I got a little carried away and it became a wrap.

This is the back of it.  I had some dichroic glass buttons that I had gotten at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and they were the perfect color to use with the yarns.  I decided to make the wrap in two pieces and sew the buttons on to attach the sections.  I really liked the way it worked out.  The beautiful turquoise ribbon that is threaded through the eyelets to the left of the buttons is Hanah silk ribbon.  I adore those ribbons for so many reasons!  The colors are to die for (or "dye" for!) and the drape is fabulous.  Anyway, I had this piece which just happened to be a perfect turquoise.

I hope you've enjoyed my minor obsession!  Ideas are always coming for more Bohemian Scarves.  I love making them because there are so many yarn combinations to try and  I can use  so many different embellishments on them.  So, there will be more coming.  I've actually got one in the very beginning stages right now.  We'll see where it takes me.

Thank you for stopping by to read my blog.  Have a wonderfully creative day!

The Bohemian Scarves

A few years ago at Stitches East, the convention for all things knit, I took a class with Maggie Jackson, the Irish knitwear designer.  I'm a big fan of Maggie's designs.  Her garments are easy to wear, with asymmetrical details which I love.  In this class we were making a scarf using Maggie's linen yarn and a few odds and ends of other yarns.  Along with the yarns she also provided embellishments, and a list of stitches which appear in her work regularly.  It was a great class, full of creativity.  Everyone had a wonderful time incorporating the different elements into the structure inherent in a class of any kind.  The method Maggie used for teaching the stitches and how to incorporate the different yarns and bits and bobs into the scarf was to have us make squares or rectangles of knitting which then would be sewn together. 

As I said, it was a fun session, but once I got home I decided to do my own thing.  This is what I do often after a class. During a class I'll get so many ideas on how to use what I'm learning, and when I get home I love to work those into the project.  Sometimes I even start the project over, and that's what I did with this scarf.  Thus was born the Bohemian Scarves! 

This was the first of the series.  It used the linen yarn from the class along with yarn from my stash.  I put aside the squares and rectangles that I came home with, and started from the the beginning.  I used a lot of the stitch patterns from Maggie's notes and from her books.  But, I also added some of my own.  I also decided to make the scarf in one piece.  So, I added stitches and decreased stitches as I went along.  In this picture you can see where the width decreases as it drapes around the neck. Those additions and subtractions appear though out the scarf.  The end piece is a half of an octogon which I attached to the scarf with a crochet stitch.  I incorporated beads, of course, and ribbons and buttons, all the things I love!  I even used one of my folded fabric flowers and a button from my friend Terrie.  In this picture, along with the flower, you can see some of the ribbons and trims I wove into the knitting, as well as some of the beads.

 

Of course, the ideas kept coming and I had to keep going!  More yarn and trim combination kept presenting themselves and each one was more exciting to  me than the next!  In the last three years I've made five Bohemian scarves with one being more of a wrap than a scarf.  One of my favorites, aside from this first one, is a very spring inspired combination of colors.  I love wearing this one in the spring and I named it Freesia because that was the color name of one of the yarns I used.

As I've been experimenting with this idea, and it really is experimenting, I've come up with different ideas for knitting elements and attaching them in the finishing process.  I have gone back to Maggie's original way of knitting these scarves and knit a square, rectangle or other shape and attached it later to the rest of the scarf.  The triangle you see here is one of  those ideas.  I attached it to the side edge with beads.  I always keep the neck edge straight and increase and decrease or add elements to the opposite edge so that the scarves are easy to wear.  As you can see I added a lucite flower bead to the end of the triangle as a little exclamation point!

There are more Bohemian scarves and there will be others I'm sure!  As I said, I keep getting ideas for yarn combinations and all the embellishments that I can use with them. I gather all the yarns and beads, fabrics, buttons and anything else I think I might use on a tray as a sort of design board. I've sent all but one off to Belle Armoire to see if they are interested in publishing them.  I'll post pictures of the others soon.  I didn't want you to think this was never going to end! 

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderfully creative day. 

The Muse

There is a young designer in Sedona, Arizona by the name of Scarlett Lanson.  Her work is incredible for her age.  She has decided that beads and beading will be her life's work and she is definitely committed to her goal.  She has a beading contest on her website, TheBeadersMuse.com, called "Use the Muse".  The contest is sponsored by Artbeads.com, which is a wonderful resource for beaders.  Scarlett sends you a kit of beads and crystals along with a component which she designates as the "Muse".  You can use as much or as little of the kit as you choose just so long as you use the Muse.  You can add anything from you own stash as well. The only other stipulation is that you keep the muse a secret until the winners are revealed on her site.  It's a great contest because anyone can enter regardless of their experience.  Scarlett's choice of bead colors is wonderful, and different every time.  You can also use any technique, beadweaving, stringing, polymer, anything as long as you use the muse.  The variety and quality of the beadwork that results is wonderful.

I had entered "Use the Muse 2" last year.  I had a lot of fun designing the necklace that I entered.  I titled it "Dusk in a Creole Garden" because I kept thinking of the courtyard gardens in New Orleans while I was working on it.

This is the finished piece.  While it didn't win I had a lot of fun with it.  I don't use blue very often, especially not the dusty blues which were prevalent in this kit.  The muse was the Lillypilly doughnut in the middle of the pendant.  That is where the inspiration for the title came from, which is the whole idea.  The muse inspires you and your creation!

I skipped Use the Muse3 because it was in the fall and that is always such a busy time around here.  But, I decided to participate in the fourth contest.  I just finished my entry this morning and I can show you a tease of what I did.   I can't show you the entire piece until the contest is over and the winners are announced on Scarlett's website.

I decided to use my very favorite technique which is freeform beadweaving.  I had a wonderful time creating this piece.  Instead of using freeform peyote I used a freeform netting stitch.  It was great fun, and I like having the two methods to choose from when I want to do freeform.  I think I'm going to name this one "River Bed" because the colors, and the way the beads flow together look like a dry river bed.  This time the colors in the kit were ones that I really like and I added some sage green beads to contribute to the earthiness of the composition.

Eventually, I'll be able to show you the entire necklace.  In the meantime, I have to go clean up the beads and plan the next project!  Thanks for visiting with me today.  Hope you're day is full of creativity!

There's a wedding in our future!

Our daughter is getting married next year!  I'm happy we have the time to plan the wedding without being rushed.  After securing our parish church for the date she and her fiance had chosen, the search for the perfect reception venue was on. It quickly became apparent that this whole planning process was going to generate a lot of contracts,  menus and information that needed to be filed.  So, I thought I should get out a file folder to keep it all together.  But, of course, I didn't want to use a plan manila folder because that would be so boring!  The creativity bug hit and I started thinking of how I could take a plain folder and do something interesting with it.  This is the result.

I started with this fabric from my stash, which I thought would be perfect for a wedding folder.  I went through the ribbon and button stash and found a silk ribbon and some buttons I liked.  I started by fusing WonderUnder to the back side of the fabric and then I stitched the ribbon to the fabric.  I left enough top and bottom to be able to tie the folder closed.  I sewed the buttons to what would be the front.  Of course this gave me an opportunity to make a tag.

 I had been tea dyeing some lace a few days ago, so I used some of that,  and I found the label in a tablet of paper I had gotten from The Queen's Ink last week.  I used some of Tim Holtz' metal flowers and corners to finish it off. 

Once the tag was complete I fused the fabric to the folder.  I found a lily of the valley print fabric in the stash for the inside of the folder.  It coordinates well with the outer fabric, and besides that, nothing says weddings to me like lily of the valley! You can see a peek of it here. 

I fused it to the inside of the folder and then cut slits through the front and threaded ribbon though them to attach the tag. 

I'm really pleased with the results.  It will be fun to get it out and add to it as the planning continues.  More fun than a boring plain manila folder!   I intend to give it to my daughter after the wedding so that she will have a keepsake with all the information about the big day and all that led up to it.  Best of all, she's thrilled with it too!

Thanks for visiting.   Remember that even mundane items in our lives can be made beautiful.  Have fun and create something today!

Something new...

Well, for me  it was new.  I had never done an inside bezel.  I don't know if that's what it should be called, an inside bezel, but since that's what it is, that's what I call it.  This is the result.

This is my newest necklace.  It started when Kathy, who owns a great bead shop called Bead Soup, at Savage Mill in Savage, Maryland, showed me some pottery pieces made by another artist who has a shop at the Mill.   Charlene Randolph owns The Clayground and makes these great pendants, among other wonderful pottery creations.  A customer of Kathy's had taken one of the pendants and bezeled the inside of the hole.  So, of course, I had to learn how to do it.  One Friday morning we sat at the bead shop and Jo taught  Kathy and me how to bezel the inside of the pendant.  It takes some trial and error to get the correct number of beads for the inital ring of beads.  Each pendant is hand made so the diameter is different for each one.  But, when you've determined how many beads will fit, you just begin to peyote stitch the bezel.  I ended the peyote with a picot stitch.

Once the front of the bezel is completed you fit it into the hole and work from the back side to complete the bezel and keep it from slipping out.  This pendant had a small hole in the top so that a wire or thread could be inserted up through it.  I used that in the finishing to attach the pendant to the necklace.  Once the pendant was finished I decided I would use it as the closure on a covered cord.  I had the perfect batik fabric in my stash and I used that to cover cotton cording.   I finished the ends with peyote tubes and firepolished crystals.  I stitched a peyote tube for the bar and attached it to one side of the necklace with a ladder stitch tab.  I then used the small hole in the top of the pendant to attach it to the other side of the necklace, going through a firepolished crystal to keep it all in place.

I was really pleased with how it turned out.  I love the idea of a bezel inside a doughnut or pendant.  It was fun to work out how to put it all together.  Because I used the fabric tube for a necklace it's very comfortable and light weight. 

It's always fun to learn something new and to add to your store of techniques. 

Thanks for visiting, have a wonderful day creating and maybe learing something new!

The Glory of Daffodils

Springtime food for the soul! 

Frosted Plums

As you know from previous posts,  I like to create knitted jewelry.  I find it challenging to use knitting fiber to make a necklace or bracelet.  Last year I started making bead knitted bracelets and necklaces.  My friend Leslie from Twisted Sistah had knitted a reversible bracelet using #8 Hex beads and micro C-lon thread.  She gave me the pattern and I was soon hooked on making these bracelets.  I'll post some pictures of some of the ones I made in another post.  I had also been making some of the bracelets Ellen from Earthfaire creates.  She uses a mix of beads and Kreinik metallic braid to knit bracelets and necklaces. 

A few months ago I started doing bead knitting with wire instead of thread.  I made a few necklaces and bracelets using sterling silver clasps.  After the holidays I was going through my stash of Artistic Wire and came across a matte plum wire in 30 gauge that my daughter, Carrie, had given me.  I really liked the fact that it was matte.  I pulled together a bead stew to use for a necklace.  One of my favorite parts of making these necklaces is putting together the bead stew.  I've learned that any bead smaller than a 6 doesn't have the presence I like.   They tend to get lost among the larger beads.  I've used stick pearls with success, but anything too large distorts the knitting.  So, putting the beads together is really fun for me.  I get to go through all my beads and find what I think will work in color and size.  It's great fun, and I discover things I forgot I had. 

As I worked on this necklace I decided it looked like frosted plums, hence the name.  I also thought it would be fun to do something different with the clasp.  I'm a big fan of Beverly Ash Gilbert.   In her new book, Beaded Colorways, she shows how she bezels a cabochon and makes a clasp out of it.  I had wanted to use fabric as to create a cabochon for a long while.  So, I decided to put that idea, and Beverly's clasp idea together.  My stash of cotton batiks is quite large because I've never seen a batik I didn't fall in love with!  And, surprise!  I found one that was a perfect match for this necklace.  I cut a 2" circle of Lacy's Stiff Stuff and a 1 3/4" circle of fabric, which I  placed over a layer of thin quilt batting.  I sewed the batik to the Lacy's around the outer edge and began beading a bezel around the fabric circle. 

I love freeform beading, and I took a class from my friend Christen Brown.  She teaches a great freeform peyote bracelet class for Joggles.  Check it out if your interested in freeform!  Anyway, I decided to use some freeform across the fabric, and I used Beverly's idea (her book is  a study of freeform beadwork and color) to use a variety of beads in the embroidery around the cab. 

Once the knitting was finished and the cab was well on it's way to being finished, I started thinking about how to attach it to the necklace and create a closure.  In Beverly's book she makes a hook out of wire and attaches it to the back side of the cab.  She then attaches a jump ring to the opposite side of the necklace.  Since my necklace was knitted out of wire I just reenforced the bound off end of the necklace to use in place of a jump ring.  But, I still needed to attach the cab to the necklace and decide on a hook.  After much thought I used my flat-nose pliers to flatten the cast on edge of the necklace and I stitched the back  of the cab to the wire edge.  I then used three small hooks from a set of hooks and eyes and stitched them to the opposite side of the cab so they corresponded to the reenforced bind off edge.  I positioned them so that just the tips of the ends were visible along the edge of the cab.  I then glued ultra-suede to the back of the cabochon and stitched a beaded picot edge around the entire cab.  The picot covered the tips of the hooks so they were no longer visible. 

I was very pleased with the finished necklace.  It can be worn with the clasp in the back, front, or to the side.  I like to wear it to the side.  The knitted wire necklaces and bracelets are very light in weight even though they have a lot of beads in them.  So, they're fun to wear. 

Something I learned from trying to photograph this necklace I also learned from Beverly.  She has a wonderful newsletter that she has recently started.  The February edition had information about taking good photographs.  In it she talked about backgrounds and their colors.  She used as an example a necklace she made using purple beads.  She needed to put it on a green background in order for the color to look good.  She used beautiful green leaves from her garden.  Green being the compliment of purple on the color wheel.   Well, I had been having the same problem with this necklace.  I tried putting it on a green plate, since we don't have a lot of green in the garden yet, and it worked.  Now my photographs are definitely not in the same league as Beverly's, but I could not get good color no matter what background I tried until I used the green plate.  Thank you,  Beverly! 

I love to find alternative closures for my creations.  Whether it's a closure for a jacket or a clasp for a necklace or bracelet, I think it adds to the fun of making and wearing the piece.  Thinking outside the box can lead to some interesting results.  Try it!

Have a fun and creative day!