Random Thoughts

Finally Released!

I am so happy to share with you the photos by Daniel Shanken of all the wonderful designs in this book. You will notice that there are many familiar designers who have contributed. I simply cannot pick a favourite and I hope to make all of these designs and refresh my wardrobe.

There is something for every crocheter in this book so it would make a wonderful Holiday gift for the crocheter in your life.!

Here are my designs:

Here are some patterns from the other wonderful designers

My designs

I am finally able to show you my designs which will be in the book: See it here!

Here are 2 photos taken by Daniel Shanken

Pod Cast Bead Work --Kate McKinnon's Fabulous New Experiment

I have been following Kate McKinnon's work on

Contemporarygeometricbeadwork.com

and have made this little pod cast bead. You can use this bead to start as many bracelets as you like and be sure of the fit.

Use a temporary thread to add the first row. Then continue building with a new thread

Unzip the bracelet from the pod cast bead after at least 6 rows

Here you can see the bead and the bracelet separated

Continue on and finish the way you want

Finished and ready to wear

And now on to the next one...

Just what have I been doing?

Yes, I am still making things. Here are a few I have made recently:

I took a course in metalsmithing. I learned to saw, anneal, solder, and file, file, file metal. The pendant is silver soldered onto copper that I heat treated to colourize. There are two band rings, one silver and the other copper. Also a Russian wedding ring in copper with three interlocking rings. And a silver spinner ring. I have to say that I don't like sawing at all and broke many blades to complete these, but I did enjoy everything else.

Then I decided to do a little bead embroidery. This cuff fastens with 2 magnetic clasps.

After that I did some bead crochet. This necklace uses 2 different sizes of beads randomly strung. The clasp is 2 dragon heads.

International Freeform Fiberarts Guild Annual Challenge

Each year an international group of fiber artists choose a theme for their challenge. This year's theme is "Pattern in Nature." They then work secretly on their submissions without any contact with each other. The resulting entries are then presented in an online gallery:

2017 Challenge

This one is mine:

As the seasons change so do the leaves as they go from the lightly coloured green of new leaves to the brilliant colours of autumn which gradually disintegrate into leaf skeletons.

I am somewhat obsessed with the gradual decline that nature brings. Abandoned buildings, fallen trees, objects lost or discarded, and leaf skeletons all provide captivating opportunities for inspiration.

The influence of nature is undeniable and one of its most compelling patterns is the ever repeating cycle of the seasons.

For this piece, each leaf is a separate little scrumble and no two are alike. Since leaves change and slowly disintegrate over time, I had to consider how best to achieve this. After a little experimentation I developed a technique that I call 'deconstructed crochet'. The techniques I used in this challenge are crochet, Irish crochet, deconstructed crochet, deconstructed Irish crochet, and deconstructed Tunisian crochet.