Freeform Again

I've been out in the studio working on freeform wire and wool necklaces. Here's a close up of a couple of strands.

Wool, silk, cotton, wire and freshwater pearls . . . 

Freeform Necklace

On my continuing mission to fill in gaps in what I've made lately, I turned my attention to my freeform necklaces.

I sold two of these at my first Sussex Neighbourhood House market. I brought one along to my first class in the Make Craft Your Business course as an introduction to to myself and my work. It sold to another participant. That gave me an encouraging boost.

The challenge is to develop more effective ways of making these. They are a combination of fancy handspun, hand-dyed fibres, felt balls, pearls, semi-precious stones, thread and beading wire. My technique involves twisting, stitching and binding. Despite the freeform look, it takes a fair bit of planning to make sure that features end up in the right places. I like the ends to be nicely finished. A bit of flexibility in length is another desirable feature. So, I'm working on them and enjoying the process. Stay tuned for developments. 

Spontaneous

After planning and measuring for textured scarves on Saturday, I probably should have continued in that vein yesterday. Instead I took one of the yarns and made this:

What to call it? It's a little woolly neckpiece--more necklace than collar really. There's a thread of magenta silk through the main yarn that doesn't show up well in the picture. Please add that visual spark in your imagination. One of the things I really like about crochet is that it builds one stitch at a time--that's great for free-form work because I can take it in any direction I like.

After that spontaneous outburst, I'll try to get back to the scarves in the next day or so. 

Shiny Things

I picked up this bracelet for a couple of dollars at an Opp Shop a few weeks ago.

I don't usually wear bracelets. I don't like the feeling of something around my wrist. Maybe that's because I use my hands so much with various crafts. And this bracelet is heavy. Those are big cut glass beads and semi-precious stones. Well, maybe semi-precious is a bit of an overstatement, but anyway, they are heavy. So why did I bother buying this, even for just a couple of dollars? I'm hoping to make it into a necklace. I'm thinking of something a bit freeform incorporating different twisted cords and fibres. Hopefully on the weekend I'll have a go at it. Meanwhile I've promised to help with the Newsletter at the Neighbourhood House today. The volunteer who normally does it is out of action and it needs to be out this week.