VIRGIN VIKING KNIT

I was so inspired to try doing the Viking Knit after seeing some of the beautiful work done with this technique some months back.  While still working on the Chunky Green Necklace, I 'bribed'  my friend into making a Wooden Draw Plate for me.  It is a wooden block with holes of different sizes and she has done a good job:

Next, I downloaded an Utube from which I learnt the Viking Knit technique: Viking Knit Jewelry by Gail Nettles.  Finally, I searched for thin wire for the knit and all I could find in my drawers was this roll of guage 30 (I guessed) craft wire.  Ah well, I just went ahead to knit with it and it turned out ugly before drawing it though the Draw Plate:

The knit was quite uneven due to the inconsistent tension of each pull of the wire. Consoling myself that it was a first trial and just a practice round, I kept my finger crossed and pulled the section through the hole of the Draw Plate.  The result was so magical because the imperfection was almost gone and the ugly duckling turned out to be a beautiful chain:

It was like 'Wow, did I really make this?'  After fiddling with it for a while, I found it too thin and light to be worn as a choker/knecklace - lack of substance. I just needed to try again but with thicker wire.

I looked through the storeroom and found this packet of gauge 24 Brass wire and immediately used it to knit without second thought. The 'before drawing' look was still ugly but well, at least the color was pleasing:

I really could not wait for the drawn result and indeed, it did not disappoint me.  I was so pleased with it and went on to add the clasp to make it into a necklace:




ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?   Hehe, a pat on the back.

I was quite surprised by the vast difference in theresults by just changing the wire gauge while the other factors remained the same e.g. tightness of knit, number of knit per row ( I used five):

It was quite difficult to knit with gauge 24 as compared to gauge 30 as it was less flexible.  I think being brass and not copper was also part of the reason as it gets hardened easier.  

Hey, wait a minute! Won't brass wire tarnish after some time? Gulp......may be the color will be nicer.....hope so.........

CHUNKY ORANGE

What a relief! I finally touch base in Singapore after heavy traveling for two months (September and October). Oh, home sweet home!

I have promised myself to do a remake of the CHUNKY GREEN with some changes to make it more wearable.  Tada....here is the new version with an orange bead:

The main difference is in the black weaved rope. I used Cubic Right-Angle Weave (six-bead base) instead of Twisted Herringbone Stitch.  It is indeed more flexible - Thanks Therese for the suggestion!

It was taken on the same day of completion therefore I had no chance to snap some good shots with the camera. At least I managed to take this photo with my Samsung handphone before saying bye-bye to it.  

Hmm...I wish I could have some close-up shots of the wire wrapped bead.  Both sides are equally presentable with similar design. This is slightly difficult to wrap as the holes are at the sides widthwise, unlike the CHUNKY GREEN which has them at the top and bottom.  The challenge was to make it stay put lengthwise and not easily go lopsided.  Ha ha, at least there are holes otherwise it would be challenging.

Hey, the CHUNKY GREEN was also taken and the taker actually preferred it to the orange one. Well,  I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  

Next project - Viking Knit. Wish me luck!

  

CHUNKY GREEN

While I was still into wiring, I thought of taking up an old challenge: to make a necklace with the big round beads given by SIL and the necklace must not look anything like Buddhist prayer beads. So, simple stringing is out of the question.  It took me nearly two weeks to come out with a design and four days to complete the necklace.  It is not very fantastic but at least it has achieved my intention:

I wire wrapped each and every bead to add some character to them. I added some black round beads to break the monotony.  The green wire wrapped focal bead was added to enhance the look. Below shows the look from both sides of the focal bead:

Well, the wrapping is a bit simple but serves the purpose.  

I could have just used chain for the extensions to complete the necklace but it would look 'cheap'. So, I used Twisted Herringbone Stitch to weave the ropes for the extension and indeed it added some sophistication in it.  A metal clasp may spoil the effect thus I also weaved the clasp with Peyote Stitch to complete the look:

  Hmm...not nicely done being first attempt. Embarrassed.

All seem well but it is not! Design failure! The weaved ropes took 3/4 of the total time to do yet this hard work is not visible on the wearer as it is seated at the back of the neck! What a waste of effort. I should have either

-  weaved a longer extension rope on both sides to make it a longer necklace

or

-  had lesser wire wrapped bead (by two on each side) and longer weaved ropes.

I think I will make another necklace of similar design with the same big round beads but different focal bead.  I may use another stitch for the ropes as I find Twisted Herringbone too stiff and the stitch requires more time to complete the same length as compared to some other stitches.

Hmm...which stitch shall I use?

MULTI CHAIN BRACELET

While searching through my stash of beads for matching materials for the 'GREEN BRACELET' mentioned in my previous post, I heard these cute little metallic color beads shouting "Me! Me! Me!" How could I resist? So, here they are in this multi chain 'home' I have created for them:

It is a three layer chain bracelet as shown below:

Hehe, can you see the poor cat hanging with one arm? It was salvaged from some old jewelry piece long ago. Hmmm....I think this is also a "GREEN BRACELET"! 

Oh, by the way, I have learnt to use the triangle jump ring in this project. It is used on the tear-drop glass beads in the middle row. Unlike the normal round jump ring, I had to gently pull both ends slightly apart while twisting it open the usual way.  This to create a gap for the tip of the bead to go in between. I am not sure if this is the correct way but it worked.

"GREEN" BRACELET

There are Green Buildings.....Green Cars.....Green Shopping Bags.....Green Containers.......... and I have just made myself a Green Bracelet!  Ha ha, I am not talking about 'green' as in 'green color' but 'green' as in 'environmental friendly', got it?  

What is a GREEN BRACELET (by my definition :-) )? It is simply a bracelet made with beads/chains that are leftovers, salvaged from old jewelries and beads which have been kept for years and do not seem to have any future use.  Some beaders call them orphan beads but I preferred to label them 'neglected beads'.  

Okay here it is:

I had fun making it and I could refresh my wire wrapping skill - after a long break from it doing bead weaving. It may be a simple project but it took me two days just to select and match the beads according to the color, size and texture.  I am very poor in this area.  The actual beading took me not more than three hours!!!

It is my favorite bracelet for now.

Cubic Right-Angle Necklace

Sigh! When was the last time I have completed a project and got it posted?  Three months? Really, I have asked myself countless time "To bead or not to bead"? 

I had been drowned in busyness. Excuse? Partly. The truth is, I was stuck with a project dealing with cubic right-angle weave. The weave itself is not difficult and you can learn it easily in this tutorial: beadmavens.blogspot. The tricky part was that I had to work around an odd shaped focal bead and I did not know how to weave a bezel.  

Well I shall show the completed project in order to explain the problems I had encountered in this project:

WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS THING!!! Ha ha, it is a necklace.

Okay, it all started that I was given this beautiful Tiger-Eye measured about 1.6" X 2.5". Yup, it is a pretty big one. I did not want to just add a bail and wear it with a cord or chain. Hey, come on, I am a beader and I like challenge! So, I selected a project which is in Bead & Button October 2011 issue. The project on the cover page is like this:

Oops, I should not have shown this - my necklace seems so ugly comparatively.

Sob, sob. I have my problems:

1.  Focal stone is odd shaped

2.  I have no idea how to weave a bezel

3.  Even if I can weave a bezel, the focal will be too big and chunky

4.  I cannot handle size 15o beads so each wormy strand was not easy to bend

Notwithstanding these problems, I went ahead with the project and ended up with a monster like this!

Because of the asymmetrical focal, the necklace formed is also lopsided. Nevertheless, I will still wear it because I made it and a lot of thought has been given in the making process! 

Phew! What a load off my chest! I now can move on to other projects which I can handle.

RAW Crystal Tiles Bracelet

In the three whole weeks visiting my daughter in HongKong, I really felt a bit lost outside the Beading World. However, I did prepare myself to sneak in some time to touch base with my love(beading of course!) 

I brought along a beading book and a pouch packed with needles, two spools of fireline of different color, small containers for beads and a handy magnifying glass with stand. Ha ha, guess what? I went shopping for beads and spent two days to complete this bracelet which was designed by Geneva Beck:

Hmmm....I think the actual thing is a lot nicer than it is shown in photos. It has more sparks especially under lightings. Ah well, may be it is my lousy photography skill. Hey, wait a second, it could be the color scheme - there is not much contrast between the seed beads and glass beads!!! 


This sophisticated looking bracelet is not difficult to made. Like most RAW project, all you need first is to make a base with RAW like this:

Then you fill in the squares with beads or crystals of your choice. Simple enough? (only to those who know what RAW is, Lol!)

RAW + Loops Bracelet

WA-HOO!!! I managed to complete one bracelet amid my busy schedule - just came back from Hong Kong last week and flying off again next week. Very tired and unsettled due to frequent traveling. But strangely, beading is one activity that helped me settle/calm down.  With pockets of time within three days, this is what I have accomplished:

Hmm....the photos do not bring justice to the bracelet. The actual look is much nicer.

This bracelet is a RAW (Right-Angle Weave) and is quite easy to stitch though looks complicated. The first step is to stitch a basic RAW BAND as shown in the half done picture below:

 (the golden brown portion)

The second step is to add on the SCALLOPED EDGE (the black portion). Lastly, stitch a row of crystal along the centre portion. 

This is a design by Connie Blachut - Seed Bead Loops Add Drama which was featured in Bead&Button magazine. Sigh, still not my own design - I am still learning.

RAW Bracelet - Variation

This is so addicting - to weave the same RAW base with different color beads and embellished in different ways. This design is so easy to weave that I can get fast satisfaction because it may be done in less than eight hours! LOL, that is considered fast for me.

This is for my daughter and she get to choose her color. Definitely her color sense is better than mine! She has requested to add the embellishment at the two sides instead of in the middle. Overall results - satistactory!

Right Angle Weave Bracelet - first attempt

That's right - my first attempt on Right Angle Weave and first attempt on weaving Bracelet. It is the ROUND THE BLOCK bracelet designed by Babara Falkowitz (Beadwork Oct/Nov 2011 issue). I just hope my work is not a disgrace to her design:

The design requires cube bead which I don't have. I have no idea what beads are those that I used in place (purple). I bought them in Hong Kong in my last trip there and the salesperson told me that they were 'cube beads'! LOL. I think I better bring a magnifying glass in my next trip to bead shop.

My original plan was to use a pretty matte grey shank button for the clasp with grey glass pearls. Unfortunately, it could not go through the loop. I ransacked my sewing box to find any decent looking button that fit the loop and this was the only one that I could find. I did the matching of suitable glass pearls to the button in the late hours under yellow light and ended up choosing the wrong shade of color. I only noticed the mistake as I was taking the photo of the bracelet. Regret!

Anyway, it was quite fun doing this stitch. I may make more with the variations as suggested by the Artist.

Ps. My color sense is awful. I had hard time deciding on the color combination and not on doing the stitch.

Herringbone Twisted Necklace

Right after my trip to Hong Kong, I really wanted to jump straight to my beading corner and continue the half done project. Sigh, there were tons of chores waiting for me.....hey, but I still managed to steal some time each day to scratch my itchy hands for beading! AND....TADA:

     

Not impressed! Okay, let's look at these photos:

       

This design was a copy of 'Elegant Inclusion' designed by Ms Lesley Weiss. Errr... mine is far from elegant because I do not have a nice focal bead to justify the description.

I have learnt quite a bit from this project: tubular herringbone stitch, twisted herringbone stitch, how to add beads in between(with and without cage). I was amazed at how the twist/spiral developed as I was stitching along. Whoever created these stitches are really genius.

It is really a beautiful and interesting design especially the twisted endings. However, I feel that the twisted clasp will easily untwined itself. Friends from Beading Daily suggested to use those little snaps for clothing or small hook and loop to keep it in place.  Good ideas but.....with the snap or hook sewn on, can I still wear the necklace in Y style as shown in the left picture above? Hehe, I found out this Y style of wearing while doing the photo shoots for the necklace. Cool, huh?