Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Two Necklaces





This morning I finished one free form crocheted necklace with beads and almost finished a second one. Then I got the thread tangled and had to remove all the beads and start over. But now it looks great and gave me an idea for some brooches and hat medallions and hair ornaments. One idea leads to another. People often wonder where to find inspiration. I have the opposite problem which is more ideas than I can use in a lifetime.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Freeform Scarflette Necklace Multi-colored






I spent the day assembling this necklace. Some of the circles were already made and in my pile of goodies. Even so, it took me nearly every bit of available time I had to finish it and do the photos. I ran out of time before I even got it listed in my Etsy shop. Hopefully I'll get to that tomorrow. I'd like to make more of these but they take so long I don't see how I can ever make a profit. It's not like I can ask $100. Well, I can, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for a buyer.

I display my necklaces on a gourd, because some buyers get very upset if they think a person ever wore the item. So I almost never display them on people. Then others will complain that they want to see it on a person, so there is really no way to win.

When people buy a shirt at a department store, I don't think they want to think about how many times someone else might have tried it on before they did.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Knitting and Crocheting Combined

I'm glad to see more TV shows on with both knitting and crocheting. There is a station called Create TV that shows how to do something like cables with knitting and then shows how to do something similar with crochet. It you are going to be working with your hand and with yarn anyway, it doesn't make much sense not to learn both. Once you know both there are so many more things you can make. And it speeds things up in many cases. For example a crocheted purse handle is much faster to make than a knitted idiot cord handle. And it's easier to crochet around the edge of a veil than to knit around one.

There are many books out on knitting and crocheting edgings. If you are tired of boring t-shirts for example, you can cut off the collar and cuffs and crochet around them instead. You can also crochet edgings around handkerchiefs, dress hems, pocket edges, and the tops of socks. Have fun exploring.