Autumn Collection Part Three (Post 22)

Like buses ... you wait for ages then they all come together!  

For those of you who may not realise, this is my 2nd update tonight - so don't forget to look at Post 21.  Especially as the method is explained more there.

Glitter Cage

Another French Knitting creation.  This time I used wire, threading loads and loads of small glass beads straight on to the spool of wire.  

It was very interesting to see the contrast between this and 'Autumn Nest' - considering the technique was the same.  (See my last post, Post 21).

I found that with wire, the cord was too big - maybe my bumble bee would have made a smaller tube?  

I decided to use glass 'marbles' as a centre.  I didn't need to thread additional wire down the middle as it was quite robust as it was.

The 'marbles' I just put in the middle of the spool.  You will find that they need a gentle 'prod' to position them - don't be afraid to give that little push, the wire is strong enough to take it!

I added a black glass marble as a focal point.  The smaller glass beads enveloped the necklace bringing it all together.

Although the necklace is not 'too' heavy, it seemed as if it needed extra strength on the chain.  I used doubled chain which also gave a substantial added 'glitter' to the necklace.

I hope you enjoyed my autumn pieces.  Please feel free to comment, I'm always interested to hear your views.  

Its that 'awkward' time of year now, where I will be working on a few christmas projects - which I won't be able to show you ... yet.  In the meantime, I will still be flitting through my bead stash and keep the creation alive.

Keep Watching - and I'll Keep Blogging!

Charters 

Autumn Collection Part Two (Post 21)

Welcome Milan

A huge welcome to Monica Catrullo a new follower, from Milan.  Monica is a truly talented lady and her work is just amazing.  Thank you for 'following' - I hope you will enjoy the voyage!  I get such a buzz when people whose work I admire, join my blog.

French Connection

Today's collection is centred around wire knitting on a spool.  Now for me, this is just like going back to my childhood - where I first found the pleasures of creating cords from wool.  Nothing fancy, in fact I learnt from using a cotton reel which had 4 nails hammered in to it.  You may know them as a 'Knitting Nancy or Dolly'?  I don't quite remember what I did with all the long rounded cords - although I remember stitching a few into coasters.  I've always been creative ever since I can remember. 

Last year, I went to my first ever Craft Show for jewellery and all the wonderful goodies connected with it.  I was very surprised to see some chunky jewellery that was apparently done using this type of spool.  Needless to say, I just had to have it.   The one that I bought is a more 'suped' up version; called 'Clover Wonder Knitter' What I like about this one is that it has a wheel that rotates the pins, rather than forever turning the reel around.  It was easier on the hands.  Admittedly, this is the first time I've used it but not the last!

It wasn't the packing that caught my eye - as it looks a little childish; but the end product is good.  In fact I think the demonstrator was also embarassed as they didn't have the tool on display just the jewellery they made from it.  They put it straight into a bag and it wasn't until I got home that I actually saw it.  (Probably one of the reasons why I held off using it?).  However, the beauty of French Knitting is you can use yarns, string or wire to produce entirely different effects.  

I've also got another smaller reel, which should be interesting to compare the difference.  Now this is a bumble bee - I know ... obviously still catering for kids!!  We'll have to prove them wrong!

Autumn Nest

With colours like this, how could it possibly be called anything else?  

So, its just a case of threading the beads on to the yarn before starting to knit.  Winding the thread around the hooks and passing the thread over each hook.  This drops the yarn through the middle.

Initially I knitted a few rows, then I pushed the beads (already threaded on the yarn), between the hooks after each stitch, until I had the length I wanted.  You then need to do a couple of rows without beads.  

It was at this stage that I decided to add some wire to make it more flexible.  I just thread wire through the centre of the spool.  I was later able to use this to wrap around the edges of the finished bracelet and create a wire wrap loop.  

I threaded the wired loop through some silver plated cones and added the jump ring and clasp.

Voila!  Autumn Nest ...

Next Part 3 - Glitter Cage ...

I'm going to do this as a separate blog, (don't worry, its following now - well as soon as I can get it written down).

See you later ...

Charters