It's been too long since I've done this. Sorry.

Well, I just looked at this journal and I'm surprised that it's been so long
since I've updated. I really had thought that only two or three weeks had
passed, not a month and a half.

Well, In that time, I have:

Finished the second front of the kimono sweater/cardigan,

completed all of the crocheted bracelets that needed to be stitched closed,

finished the rainbow hat and scarf (no pictures will be forthcoming because I'd
forgotten that they were on the project list),

finished the red eyelash scarf,

and

I have:

started the back of the kimono sweater/cardigan (just today)

and a eyelash hat and scarf set (just the hat so far)

I'll be doing a little more updating later - I just don't exactly know when.

Bye for now.

<<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>>

There will be no justice as long as man will stand
with a knife or with a gun and destroy those
who are weaker than he is.
-Isaac Bashevis Singer

Christmas bracelet photo 1

Christmas bracelet 1

This bracelet isn't perfect, but it's growing on me every time I look at it. I did the majority of the work on it when I was about 20 pounds (1 stone 6 pounds) heavier, so it's a teeny bit loose on me, but I can live with it.
The reason the bit of red cotton (peeking from around the "corner") is on the first charm (unseen partridge) is because when I had them loose in a baggie I had to find a way to distinguish between the partridge and the turtledove. I had meant to remove the cotton, but that's grown on me as well.
I'm going to make another bracelet like this one as a gift, but in gold instead of silver. I have to find the right chain for it though. That's being a bit of a pain to find, since it's got to match the charms - which are in a specific antique gold finish.
But I'm sure I'll find it when I least expect it.
Oops, got to go.
Bye for now.

Christmas bracelet photo 2

Christmas bracelet 2

Notes for bracelet photos are in the next/latest post (depending upon when this is read).

I would feel bady that I haven't updated in over a week, but last week was a bit fraught. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and do what needed to be done. All my journals (all 4 of them) suffered. So be it.
But, I managed to take pictures yesterday of the things that I promised to last week. . .
The three pictures are divided into three entries (this one and the two after it), but I just can't get the picasa/hello thingy to send all pictures at the same time even though I'm following the instructions. Never mind. This entry has the sweater bits that I've done so far, and the ones after have the Christmas charm bracelet photos.



kimono sweater knitting


The reason the two knitted bits are different shades is because the finished front (on a straight needle) is in a specially finished mulberry silk yarn (Texere Arctic), and the started one (on the circular needle) is in a Chinese silk bourette yarn (Chinese Number 2) - yes, I am knitting that one from three cones - the yarn is a different thickness as well and it's the only way to make it work.
I am thinking about space dying the sweater when it's finished to try and make it a bit more cohesive. But I'll have to see WHEN it's finished - I JUST might unravel everything and start again.

Some projects on hold - reasons at the end of the entry. . .

Project work as it stands:

Another crochet bead bracelet completed (Bracelet of silver-lined transparent
purple size 9 beads).

Knitting started on surprise gift. Details cannot be given yet as I don't know
if this journal is being read by recipient of gift.

Knitting continuing on sweater and shawl, although the sweater was recently
ripped back 15 rows because of an unnoticed mistake. Sweater knitting was
continued after calming therapy of chocolate eating.

Photographs of sweater-in-progress will be taken at the same time as the
christmas charm bracelet.

Knitting (small amount) done on sock (toe up Socks (first one started) in Regia
nation "Rainbow" sock wool on size 2.5mm DP needles.

Fillgap braiding continuing by increments.

All other projects on hold as I'm trying to remember WHY I started most of
them - especially the old fillgap ones.

Once I remember, I'll start work on the ones most urgently needed to be
completed in the list. *snicker* Urgently needed . . . yeah.

Bought two balls of acrylic baby wool today - one pink and one pale yellow. Work
on baby stuff (for hospital) begins after Christmas.

Bye for now.

Weekend Work

I've completed the Christmas charm bracelet. It's not really to my satisfaction,
but it's the best I can get with the chain I've used. I wanted a big link chain,
so I have to accept the limitations that come with certain things like that.
Photos later in the week when I've used up the cone of silk yarn I'm halfway
through (I want to use it as a "stand" for the bracelet).

Done lots of knitting on:

1) Kimono sweater and done about a third of one front - this is really due to
the fact I'm not a big fan of knitting stockinette because of the dullness of
the repetition. I love the fabric produced, so I'll put up with the boredom.

2) Prayer shawl and I have finally knitted over half of it *cheers*. The fabric
produced with the elongated moss/seed stitch is lovely, but it too, with my
dislike of repetition, is knitting hell.

The things I do to produce things I like. *grin*

Worked on raven fillgap braid and got frustrated due to being too damn tired to
realize that I only jump three threads. Had to back track 4 times in two days.
Will not work on braid when tired again. But I'm over halfway done.

Bye for now.

And just because I don't have enough knitting projects . . .

I have started yet another:

A kimono sweater in DK weight mulberry silk yarn (bleached).

The pattern came from the Crystal Palace yarns website (www.straw.com), off
their free patterns section.

Luckily, it's a simple design, with no real fitting required.

I guess my fidget gene was too bored.

Bye for now.

Plans for the Prayer Shawl. . .

I purchased 4 spools of 3mm ribbon yesterday in colours that are in the prayer shawl I'm working on - or colours as close as I can get to ones that are in the shawl - the self striping yarn that's being used graduates through a lot of colourways and shadings from pale cream to a medium dark brown to an an odd olive green to an odd dark grey (I can't decide if it's a warm grey or a cool one) and all inbetween, so I'm not too worried. The plan is to thread it through the shawl as accent lines and use it also as part of the fringe.
You see, the knitting pattern I've used leaves behind regularly spaced holes along the length of the shawl.
The pattern is an elongated (3 stitch) Moss(UK)/ Seed(US) stitch.
I'm hoping the ribbon will look nice. I'll do a test next week. There's half the shawl to complete, so I've plenty of time to decide if it will work.
Bye for now.

Clear silver-lined size 15 bead crochet rope bracelet

Well, at least I remembered this photo eventually. Unfortunately the silver lining in the beads causes microscopic glare, so the colour isn't quite right. You can't have everything.

Bye for now.

Raven pendant fillgap braid.


I finished writing yesterday's entry and after I sent it off, I knew there were terms at the end about the christmas charm bracelet that were wrong -
1) it is a toggle clasp that I used.
2) the chain is a loose rope chain. Same construction as a standard rope chain, but with bigger links-because of thicker wire.
*sigh* I knew all this when I made it in the first place, and to forget it while writing frustrated me.
I am still working on good photos for the "bracelet on bead loom in mid-project". I'll get it up as soon as I can. The problem is that the beads are reflecting too much and I can't get good photos of the pattern - it is very subtle, but I think it is really very pretty. I'll keep trying.

Weekend workings

Life is fun. I'm busy and I like it.

I worked on completing a pair of socks (I dragged them out of the "knitting in
mid-project" basket) - but I didn't quite manage doing any knitting on them at
all, because of a cross stitch project that decided it wanted me to work on it -
"The Magpies on Oak and Honeysuckle" - mainly because I see it every day because
it leans on a dresser in my bedroom.

You might think that's a recipe for disaster, but this dresser is in a corner
near the window and I have to negotiate some boxes to get to it, therefore the
project is very safe - safer than if it were stored behind the couch. But even
having said I worked on it, I only got a few stitches done before my back
decided to complain. Though I suppose that's a few less stitches to do, isn't
it?

I also worked on yet another couple of beaded bracelets - the "Bracelet of matte
transparent red size 11 beads - red cotton cord in center for support due to
unexpected stretchyness of crochet" and "Bracelet of silver-lined transparent
purple size 9 beads". They're both in a state of almost finished, but the first
one needs the cord knotting securely and stitching shut before I can finish
closing the beads and the second one I need to find a needle that will both hold
the thick thread AND go through the beads, as I've closed the bracelet, but I
now am at the stage of needing to put the thread through the other beads and
knot it a couple times so it doesn't come undone. That's not as easy as it
sounds with the thread I've used. I'll figure it out. But this does mean that
there are less projects left to complete and the projects left to work on are
more prevelent.

Then the prayer shawl I've been working on, I moved on to another ball of wool.
I'm now on the 5th ball of wool with only another 4 or 5 balls to go. I'll
really know once I'm halfway through this ball. This shawl is going to an aunt
in California and I hope she likes it.

I've reached a point with the "raven pendant fillgap braid" that if necessary, I
can put fittings on it and use it, but I've threads left on the bobbins (lengths
unknown), so any more length I get out of it is a bonus. I initially cut the
skeins of black floss into thirds, and then I didn't know if I'd be able to make
the braid long enough. I have been trying to take photos of it, but the darn
thing is just a bit too thin to get good detail on it. I've tried to do a
focussed shot and blow it up, but it becomes too pixillated. It's frustrating to
say the least. I'm going to try a few shots of it outdoors in the next couple of
days and see what I can get. *cross fingers* I also decided to check if the
pendant would fit on the braid - the pendant has a very small split ring on it
for hanging. Luckily the braid will work, although it will be tight.

Then I decided to work on a jewellry project I had to abandon due to illness.
It's a charm bracelet of the "12 days of christmas" illustrated in charm form.
I've got the chain and closing(a circle and bar with spiral accents) set up and
6 of the charms attached, but the chain is an interlinked chain that doesn't
give me a lot of leeway with regards to spacing the charms. Anyway, I'll update
in a couple days with more info -type of chain and other things- then I'll post
photos of it once it's finished.

Bye for now.

Forgot to mention this in the entry yesterday. . .

That in the photo of the knitting (Prayer shawl), you can see a purple plastic
box with a heart catch.

That's my SMALL portable craft box. I keep two crochet projects and two lucet
projects in it.
The only reason I have it is because it was in a 50% sale at a motorway service
station (and it was the last one).

Next entry on Monday.

Bye for now

Then, I did some fillgap braiding on my Raven pendant cord, crocheted some of the ripped bracelet - which is comeing out nicely now. and sewed up this:

a bracelet of matte transparent deep purple size 12 delicas.

That's all.

Not much done today. I knitted a few rows on this:


Prayer shawl in limbo Colour "timber" on 4.5mm circular needles

Night crafting and the "muse"

The craft deity is fickle and cruel yet pleasant.

She can be both a very stern taskmistress and lax - She holds a full goose wing
as a whip.

But my version of her is sometimes. . .strange.

A few nights ago, though I needed a full night's sleep, I could not rest until I
had completed, to a stage, the closing of a crochet bracelet. I knew it could
wait another day - a week - a month - a year. It didn't have the power of
locomotion, yet there was I, at 4:30am, wielding thread and needle sewing beads.

She was stroking me with the seductive and calming down feathers, yet
threatening me with the old strong primaries that sting and burn. . . I could
tell.

These writings are not tinged with the madness of sleep deprivation. No.

In the past, I've gone without sleep for nothing more than completing a section
of beading on a necklace - for practice, in order to learn a new technique. And
I wanted to.

She is quaintly quixotic, is my goddess. And I don't even know her name.

Oh, just to finish the "day", once morning came and I had the free time to work
on that bracelet, it wasn't important to her anymore.

She can be a real Bitch sometimes.

Bye for now.

The making of a fillgap braid, Saleris style

The picture below is of me holding a working fillgap braid.

All my own handiwork, from setting up the paper templates for a polygon on Corel
Draw, pasting them onto cardboard and cutting out the shape (in the picture
below, an octagon), then cutting out the centre hole and the slots with an
exacto knife.

I cut out rectangles for cardboard bobbins and wind them with the yarn, cotton
floss, silk or rayon thread I'm going to make the braid with.

I get an empty film canister and put in some coppers (pennies and 2p pieces) and
use thread scraps off old braids to make loops to attach them to the growing
braids. When I need to, I go to film developing shops and ask for empty film
canisters - I get a bag of them for free.

Finally, I choose some of those wound bobbins, I bind together the threads at
one end to begin my braiding and push the loop through the middle hole and
attach the weighted film canister. I then put the threads in the slots and start
braiding.

If I'm lucky and get the right cardboard for the bobbins, the noise of them
bouncing off each other as I move threads from slot to gap is akin to bamboo
chimes.

I like doing fillgap braiding.

Bye for now.

A fillgap braid. More explanation in the next entry. 

Irregular crochet bracelet

I've just had to rip (undo) 9/10ths of a crochet bracelet - I was wondering why
I couldn't sew it together correctly, and had also decided the bracelet was too
big. So I frogged (ripped) back a bit, and discovered I'd not crocheted it
properly to begin with. The rows were staggered - they didn't "step" around
properly.

Crochet rope should flow from one stitch to the next - on this one, I'd go back
half a row from the end, and it would drop a bead. I thought it was a bead
variation until I'd frogged back 10 rows and it still did it. Silly me. Silly
bracelet.

VERY strange crochet.

As I post this, I'm still wondering WHY it took me all this time (2 days) to
notice that!

AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, at least THIS time I'll crochet it properly.

Bye for now

Beading and a review of Denise Knitting needles

Ah, I had a nice weekend. Reading, knitting, beading and braiding. I have been
trying to finish a crochet bracelet by sewing it up, a bracelet in silver-lined
clear size 15 beads, but I got sidetracked before the second attempt.

You see, even though I've been doing off-loom beadwork for over a decade, I've
never sewn up/joined up a crochet rope bracelet on the first try - the pattern
created by the crocheting needs to be followed through on the join so it becomes
as invisible as possible. This bracelet requires the small 4X inset on my
clip-to-the-desk magnifying glass to sew it up, which makes it a bit more
challenging than normal.

Then I had second, third and fourth attempts on Saturday night and Sunday
morning. I think the gremlins were gathering around this bracelet. Got quite a
bit p***ed off, especially since one of the attempts caused me to have to
re-crochet one end of it - which, if to honest, wasn't that bad - I tightened
that end up a bit. I did finally sew it together on Sunday night. Photo tomorrow
or Wednesday night.

But, enhearted by my eventual success, I started on finishing/sewing up another
crochet rope bracelet. This one still needs use of the magnifying glass, but I
can use the big section. Darn those fiddly threads. *G*.

On another subject,

I've been thinking for a while about getting some interchangeable needles, but
the only two companies I knew did them were Boye and Denise. I found the Denise
website and finally caught some people talking about them both. I decided to get
the Denise set as I found out the needles in the Boye set - as much as I like
the quality of their STEEL crochet hooks - are made from aluminium and you screw
the cables onto them.

So, by luck, these same people said they got theirs from a real store with a
website:

The Wooly Workshop. (www.woolyworkshop.co.uk)

I went to their website, liked the price, printed off an order form (with a bit
of faffing around), and mail ordered some Denise interchangeable knitting
needles a couple weeks ago. I got them in the post last week.

I can't say I was impressed with them initially. From the reviews and praises I
read, I expected something really spiffy and pretty. They're not. I opened them
up and thought I'd been done. They look like cheap plastic (which they are NOT).

Like the picky size fiend I am, I got out my brass caliper and measured them
all. They are not all evenly divided into whole millimetres and fractions of
millimeters (regardless of ANY website saying they are) like regular knitting
needle sizings, but they are sized so if you use them as a SET, you'll make good
garments.

(Some of the pairs are evenly measured as whole and fractions of millimeters
(e.g. 3.75, 4, 4.5. . .), just not ALL of them).

So today, I bit the bullet and transferred one of the prayer shawls onto the
size 4.5mm needles made up with two cables into an circular needle and used them
for a while. I started examining them and while knitting, changed over a cable
or two so the shawl would fit better on them (so there wasn't so much extra
cable) - the circular needle measures 78.5cm from tip to tip now - and I lost
track of time whilst knitting as it was comfy.

I really like them.

I REALLY like the Denise needle set. I had a good look at them and noticed a few
things.

1) they've got little holes in the neck of the cables so you can put a paperclip
or home-made handle in and easily twist them that way when needed - which is
good for my arthritic flare-ups.

2) The needles and cables fit together nicely. Not really snug, but they also
have a little give in them, so you sort of forget about them. I tend to find
that other types of circular knitting needles are not particularly giving, so
the edges and backs of my hands start to ache after knitting for a while. These needles are really pleasant to work with.

3) They don't get warm like they say, but they do stop being cold very quickly.
That's good.

4) The cables are equal to the thickness of the smallest needles. That's nice as
it means the knitting slips fairly easily from the cables to the needles with no
"snagging" or jamming like you can get with the cable/needle joinings of some
other companies.

5) The needles are a bit rough, but they do smooth out quickly with use. I don't
know if they'll eventually end up with a finish like glass, but right now
they're a tiny bit "sticky". That's good for me. I don't like feeling as if the
knitting is going to slip off the needles when I least expect it. I don't mind
the slight decrease in knitting speed it causes as I'm not a fast knitter
anyway.

Right now, since there's only one cable of each length in the kit (6 different
lengths), I can't see using the set like regular paired knitting needles.
There's no freedom in that regard for picky little me, plus, since there's only
two extender bits, there's a limited scope for the amount of circular knitting
needles I can make.

So, I am planning on ordering one more of each cable length and 2 more extender
bits (each extender comes with two end buttons - another feature I really
like.).

I do like the set. It's comfortable. It's not the greatest quality, but it works
very well for what you get. I will say that if it had cost more, I would have
sent it back. (I paid a bit over 33 pounds for mine including Packaging &
Postage).

The set is made in the US and I'm glad I didn't persuade myself to order it from
over there - it NOW costs about $50 not including P&P - but when I ordered mine, the
set cost about $70. The recent US price decrease annoys me a tiny bit, but I have the
kit and I'm happy.

I think that's enough talking about it. I've got things to do.

Bye for now.

A correction on a past post, photo update and an announcement

In my quest for good photographs, I discovered I had made a mistake on the
description of the beads in the loomwork - I said they were:

"Flat loomed bracelet in matte transparent clear and AB transparent light grey
size 12 beads"

Well, the beads actually are AB matte transparent clear and clear size 11 beads.

Eek. trust me to get it wrong when retrieving details from memory. (it's par for
the course, really.) *G*.

Anyway, some good photos have been taken. Not great ones, really, but I'll take
what I can get right now. Rotating and cropping have yet to be done, and that
will take about a week. Normally it would take a day, but I've an exam in less
than a week, so my concentration is getting a little frayed. . . Maybe I'll take
a few more photos after the exam. I'll see when I start tweaking the ones I've
taken.

Yes, I know, it seems strange taking photos now, but it's an activity that makes
me calm and relaxed.

And yes, by doing this, it indicates that I've found a way to include photos in
this journal/blog. No, I'll call this a journal as I prefer that word. Blog
sounds. . .transient.

Oh, and this is one of the very rare weekend entries I'm going to do. I've
decided that weekends are for preparation and relaxation, so unless I've been
extra busy and creative and I've just GOT to tell the world, there'll be no
entries on the weekend from now on.

Bye for now.

How to do Fillgap braiding

I thought I'd better give a slight lesson on Fillgap braiding since I mention it
so much.

it's a braiding method adapted from straw plaiting and corn dollie making.

What you start out with is an flat cardboard polygonal shape with a minimum of 8 sides
and a hole in the middle.

How ever large or small your piece of cardboard is, you must have a hole in the middle,
whether it's square, round, small or half the cardboard, you've got to have
that hole - it's how your braid develops.

Anyway - you start with an flat cardboard polygon - for an example, I'll use an
octagon (8 sides).

Cut slots in the middle of each side - 8 sides, 8 slots. They don't need to be
very deep - you're using them to hold a thread or piece of yarn in.

You then cut 7 LONG pieces of yarn or embroidery floss. Why not a thread for
every slot?

Well, it's the reason this is called "fillgap" braiding. You leave a slot free
so you can "fill the gap".

Take your 7 pieces of yarn or floss or whatever thickish thread you want to use
and gather them together evenly at one end. Put an over hand knot about 1" (2 -3
cm) from the end.

Stuff this knot through the hole, and taking the LONG ends, but nearish to the
knot, snug in one piece of thread in one slot. You'll end up having a slot
free - a gap.

Pull down on the long ends of the threads so the knot comes up level in the
middle of the hole and the threads hang free off the edges but secure in the
slots.

Gather the threads in your hand so the cardboard sits on your fist/thumb edge
with the threads underneath the cardboard but running through your fist AND with
the gap facing you.

Now, counting anti-clockwise from the gap, pull up out of it's slot (and your
hand) the 3rd thread from underneath the edge of the disc

(gently put the thumb of the hand you grab the thread with on top of the disc
near the edge - you can move the thread out easier)

- you'll be moving this thread over 2 other threads - and put it in the
previously empty slot.

Pick up the cardboard, turn it so the slot is facing you, gather up the threads
again and counting anti-clockwise from the new empty slot, pick up the 3rd
thread and pull it out of it's slot and put it in the empty slot.

Keep repeating this thread movement - count 3 threads anti-clockwise from the
gap and move this thread into the empty gap.

And frequently pull downwards on the knot underneath the hole as that's your
braid forming underneath. You also need to keep all the threads taut beacuse the braid forms nicely this way. I know, it's fiddly - but it makes the braid nice.

If you're using LONG threads, you can wind them on cardboard bobbins to keep
them from tangling - and this way you can hold the edge of the disc. It gives
you more freedom to move the disc around.

If you want a way to stop having to pull down on the knot/braid, then find an
old plastic film canister with a snap lid on it - remember those? fill it with a
bit of copper change (about four or five 2p pieces work nicely) and attach a
doubled knotted thread in an overhand loop to the inside edge of the lid before
it's snapped on.

To make an overhand loop, you: put out your first and second fingers of one hand and drape a section of the
loop/circle over them with the rest of the loop held in your other hand. Holding
the loop/circle slightly taut in one hand, Dip/drop those fingers over the rest
of the loop (one finger next to one thread) so your first and second fingers
each have a loop on them. put the tips of your first and second fingers together
and wiggle those two loops down your fingers and together. If you're careful
you'll find you now have an overhand adjustible loop in your fingers.

Take the other end of the loop, and making another overhand loop, put that on
the end of your developing braid above the knot (if you put it below the knot,
it'll slip off the braid.). You can then carefully move this weight up the braid
gradually as it's being formed.

The numbering method I use on some of my fillgap braids - like 10/4 or 14/4?

Well, that's the number of threads, movement and thread counted from the gap -

for the 10/4 one, there's 10 threads on an 11 sided cardboard "disc", and I
count anti-clockwise 4 threads from the gap.

If I had written 7\3 it would mean I'd had 7 threads in an 8 sided "disc" and
counting clockwise, I'd moved the 3rd thread into the gap.

There are a couple rules you use making these braids. it gets slightly
complicated. Not terribly, but they're important. The braids don't work if you
ignore them.

So, for any fillgap braid:

1) you can't have a thread number that divides into the number of threads - e.g.
if you have 10 threads, you can't move the 1st, 2nd or 5th thread from the gap.
This is because you will end up moving the same threads over and over from gap
to gap and you will NOT form a braid.

2) You can't have a thread number that divides into the number of sides on the
disc - if you have a 9 sided disc, you can't move the 1st, 3rd or 6th thread
from the gap. You'll be doing the same thing as in rule one - and you won't be
forming a nice braid.

3) You can't move a thread into the gap that is half the number of spaces (5th
thread in an 10 sided disc) or greater than half the total number of threads
(8th thread in an 15 thread braid) - because you'd either be moving one thread
back and forth from one gap to another (e.g. moving the 7th thread in a 14 sided
fillgap), or you'd be working continuously backwards (e.g moving the 9th thread
counting anti-clockwise in an 15 thread braid is really moving the 7th thread
from the gap counting clockwise).

So, as an example, using a 10 sided disc with 9 threads, you can't move the 1st,
2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th thread. this is because 1 divides into 9 and
10. 2 divides into 10. 3 divides into 9, 5 divides into 10 and 6, 7, 8 and 9 are
greater than half the number of threads.

So a 10 sided disc can only have a workable braid of 9/4(moving anti-clockwise)
or 9\4(moving clockwise).

Anyway, that's working a fillgap braid.

When you run out of thread, you can whip stitch the ends (a good sewing book
from the library will tell you how to do that), or do another knot and cut the
loose ends evenly to make a little tassel.

If you decide to try it, have fun -

but remember to keep notes of exactly what you've used and done for each braid

(the number, colours and type of threads and the placement of each thread on the
disc and which thread you've moved and what direction)

- because you might want to repeat that nice looking braid you make OR, you
might want to note what DOESN'T work.

Bye for now.

Raven pendant cord making

Just a short entry today.

I started another project last night.

I have a silver pendant of three ravens in relief interlinked with the ravens
grabbing the raven in front's foot with their beaks. The wing of each raven is
filled with a different type of celtic knot (square, spiral-ish, and knotwork).
You can see a picture of it on this page here:

http://www.electriccelt.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=eleccelt2&Category_Code=13+jewelry-triskeles

It came with a black cotton cord, but I wanted to make something different.

Which has only taken 18 months for me to decide what it will be.

I've started an 14 strand fillgap cord (14/4 weaving pattern) with 7 strands of
black cotton floss, 4 strands of silk (dark green, dark purple, navy blue and
deep royal blue), a strand of deep green flower thread, a stand of deep lilac
cotton floss and a strand of petrol blue size 3 cotton thread.

As soon as I've got any length on it, I'll post a picture.

Bye for now.

The quest for loomwork photos - part 1

I brought a bead loom upstairs to do some photos of the work on it - which I'm
still photographing, because the beads are small enough that I have to do macro
photography in order to catch the pattern. It is truly amazing how many blurred
photos I've deleted. I'm not going to give up though.

I think the problem is that it's my Dad's digital camera, which I'm not used to,
so my rate of success isn't the same as it would be with mine. But
unfortunately, I can't use my digital camera, because I can't download photos to
this computer from it as it doesn't have a compatible usb cable/program
interface for WinXP. That really ticks me off.

So I've talked my Dad into buying me a digital camera next year. That makes me
happier. But, it really doesn't help now, so I'll just keep trying with Dad's
camera.

When I dug out the bead loom downstairs, I found two more "lost" projects on top
of it.

Two braiding projects:

A flat Peruvian braid on a square plastic card in 16 strands (8 green and 8
gold) in size 8 DMC cotton.

A flat Marudai braid on a square cardboard card in 16 strands (mixed green, navy
blue, red and black) in mixed rayon floss and wool tapestry threads - this braid
was an experiment to see how I could move threads within a pattern. It's a shame
the threads are so dark, as it would be interesting to photograph it, but
unfortunately I don't get a decent photo.

Anyway, hopefully the next entry will be me telling how I've got some nice
photos of the bead loomwork. They'll be downloaded once I've cropped them
nicely.

Bye for now.

E-mail Irritation. . .

I'm not happy with e-mail messaging. But concidering that I'm trying to limit my
time spent on-line, it's the only way I can get entries on this frequently.

Now, why am I not happy? It is because the formatting goes all to hell when
entries are sent by e-mail. I know that there is a way to fix this, but it
requires extra knowledge about HTML I just don't have.

I do know how to do basic HTML. I had to learn this in order to have entries
formatted on the screen on my LJ Journal approximately the way I wanted.

My knowledge consisting of italics, paragraph insetting, bolding and changing
text size within an entry.

I do know coding for other things, but specifically how it works? Not got a
clue.

Sorry if I seem to be getting snitty. I'm irritated by two things on this
journal - random eclectic formatting and the text size.

Actually, if someone can tell me how (and where) to adjust the text size for the
entries on this journal style, I'd be very grateful.

Craft stuff:

I did work on lucetting some of the string last night. I've decided I want to
get that done, because in about three weeks, I'm going to be dying some cotton
chenelle yarn and I'd like to be able to get the string lucet cord in there as
well if possible.

I'll give a report on the dying of the yarn when it happens.

The lucetted string is a completely seperate project and is actually (if it
works) a multi-part project even before it becomes part of a braiding project.
But I'll give little updates on that as well, since this journal is all about my
crafts. *sigh* I think this is becoming much bigger than I expected. But I mean
that in a good way.

When I get the cotton chenelle yarn project notes up to date, I'll post that in
segments, just so you can see how my mind works during a craft project when I'm
actually organized and determined. It's a little bit surreal. Especially if
you've met me. *grin*.

Bye for now.

Report on some of the projects

I'm just going to mention the state of a just a few projects and I will be
commenting on other projects as I work on them. There's no point in telling you
about all the projects at this point, because this entry would be 6 pages long.
Not to mention I would get deathly bored typing it all up. Believe me, If I
could get bored doing it, I'm sure that anyone else would be comatose at the end
of reading it all.

It's funny. I work on most of those projects I listed in the last entry. Yes,
some of them more than others - that's to be expected.

The knitting projects are getting the majority of my attention right now, but
I'll occasionally work on the cross stitching or the crochet ropes.

In the cross stitching, the one I love the most is the magpies on oak and
honeysuckle kit (I debated for 2 years whether to buy it as it was so expensive
at the time. I do not regret a single penny spent on it.). But it's so tiny and
backbreaking. I've got the fabric sewn into a "rotating" 30 x 12 inch needlework
frame (the finished area will be 18.9 x 24.8 inches or 48 x 63 cm) and an oak
leaf takes 4 days to finish. There's 20 leaves and 3 seperate honeysuckle
strands with flowers and berries and two magpies - one is at rest and the other
has just touched down. I have no idea at this point when it will be finished.
I'm hoping late 2007 - and yes, realism stinks sometimes.

The most finished cross stitching project at the moment is the "Goddess of
Mercy" on blue 14 count aida. She's half finished. But what's remaining to
finish is her skirt and the lotus leaves she's sitting on. That's just a great
deal of filling space in chunks and strips of colours (purples, greens, browns,
blues and pinks). VERY boring. Although, once that's finished, I've just got the
backstitching to do. Maybe I'll work on some of that this week.

As for the crochet ropes, I'm primarily working on the AB coated matte light
blue size 15 bead necklace. It's VERY fiddly. I've got to crochet it using a
magnifying glass on a flexible neck and a size 0.75 mm crochet hook. But the
challenge is wonderful. Under the magnifying glass, it looks like I'm completing
inches, when in fact I'm completing millimetres. *shrug* I don't mind. It is so
very pretty, even if it is only 2.5 inches (6.5cm) long right now.

The "plain" beading projects, braiding and lucetting projects are getting
ignored for the moment. They have problems I don't want to work on:

In the beading, I'll comment on just 3 problem projects. 1)The medicine pouch
needs the lining hand stitching in, and I just can't do that right now as it is
going to be very fiddly. 2) I'm waiting on the 5mm green lace agate beads for
the rosary to come from the states (they should arrive in March). 3) The blue
drop bead earrings need some sterling silver ear wires, which I can't get right
now - it requires a trip to a jewellery shop in Manchester (The jewellery shop
on the upper floor in the craft centre near Tib Street) and I know I won't just
buy the earring wires once I get there.

2 projects in the lucetting just won't work. 1) The string is being difficult as
I need to pull it very tight - that's painful and blister inducing on the hands
after a short while and I do not want to work with that at this point - which is
a shame as it's mostly done. 2) The green bracelet with green beads is not
working as the pattern for the beads will not fall into place - I need to
re-plan it on paper.

And as for the braiding projects - to be honest, I just don't want to do any of
those right now. Last month I disassembled my wooden marudai, unwove the brown
and green biron braid on it and packed it all away in its bag. All of the carded
"marudai" and peruvian braid projects are sitting in seperate "zip-lock" bags in
a case and the Fillgap braids are together in a smaller case. I'm sure I'll get
back to them in the future. I just couldn't say when, though. Which in the main
is strange for me - I love braiding. The threads locking into place and creating
something so "perfect" yet organic. Ah. I think I've just gotten nibbled by the
braiding bug.

I'm off to knit a bit of a prayer shawl. Maybe I'll do a little braiding.

Bye for now.

Just got spam

I hate spam.
So now I'm going to implement the "letter screening" for commenting to this
blog/journal in order to stop it.
Sorry people.

Bye for now.

another type of MEME

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like
eyeglasses, polyester, liposuction and air conditioning.
2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging
around tall people will make you tall.
3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior.
People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and
can sign a marriage contract.
4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all;
women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still
illegal.
5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the
sanctity of Brittany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples,
infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our
orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.
7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only
raise straight children.
8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the
values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have
only one religion in America.
9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home.
That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to
new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector
economy, or longer life spans...

---Re-post this if you believe in legalizing gay marriage

Bye for now.

Here are a list of projects in progress

Cross Stitch Projects:
[Pre-assembled Kits:]
Medieval Herb Garden Bookmark on blue aida band
"Resting Wolf" Weekenders Kit on 14 count black aida
"Poppy" from Maderia on 18 count cream aida
"Shadow Watch" from janlynn on 14 count oatmeal aida
"Pinetree Bay" from Derwentwater designs on 16 count cream aida
Magpies on oak and honeysuckle("1075 Ekster" is written on kit) from Thea Gouverneur on 32 count off-white linen
"Iris" from Connections on 27 count white zweigart fabric
"One of those days" from Malathar's Dragons on 14 count white aida
"Freesia" from Connections on 27 count white zweigart fabric
"The Peacock" (K103) from Framecraft - Handbag mirror - on 22 count white aida
Blue Butterflies (34442A) from Lanarte on 14 count cream aida
"Celtic Cross" from Treasure Island Products on 16 count cream aida
"Woodlands Spring" from Wharfdale crafts on 18 count off-white aida
"Woodlands Summer" from Wharfdale crafts on 18 count off-white aida
"Woodlands Autumn" from Wharfdale crafts on 18 count off-white aida
"Woodlands Winter" from Wharfdale crafts on 18 count off-white aida
[Bought patterns:]
Zebra on 14 count cream Aida (copied from a booklet of patterns now lost)
"Angel of Love" (L&L 25) from Lavender and Lace on 28 count light blue aida
[Patterns from books and magazines:]
Angelina Ballerina tableau from Playtime Favorites book on 28 count white linen
"Goddess of Mercy" from Myth and Magic book on 14 count blue-gray aida
"Mythical and Magical Mirror Surround" from Cross stitch Magazine (March 1996 issue) on 18 count navy aida
Petit point projects:
"Impressions Sycamore" from Needlepoise on 22 count needlepoint canvas
"Impressions Autumn Oaks" from Needlepoise on 22 count needlepoint canvas

Beading Projects:
Own design circular medicine pouch in size 11 beads in blue, fuchia, gold 3-cut, silver 3-cut, red-lined blue and purple beads (body finished and waiting for lining to be stitched in, working on detachable strap)
Needle holder covered in circular peyote - matte transparent black, green, dark green, blue, blue-purple and purple size 11 beads
Flat even-count peyote bracelet in transparent green and dark green size 11 beads
Flat loomed bracelet in matte transparent clear and AB transparent light grey size 12 beads
Earrings in blue drop beads and blue pressed glass beads on fine silver chain (parts in "zip-lock" bag ready to start but waiting on parts)
Rosary from green moss agate chips and 5mm green moss agate beads on silver plated wire with silver "medallion" and cross for future gift (some parts in bag, but waiting for cross and beads)
Flat even-count peyote bracelet in AB red "cherry"-lined size 11 delicas (finished, waiting for findings to be attached)
Necklace in white rice pearls and lapis lazuli 6mm beads on gold wire and fine gold chain to be restarted - the wire loops need to be wrapped loops so the pearls and beads don't fall off the chain spacers.

Bead Crochet Rope Projects:
[In mid project:]
Necklace in AB light blue transparent matte size 14 beads
Necklace in antique transparent cobalt blue size 11 3-cuts and silver-lined clear size 11 beads
Bracelet in antique white striped transparent deep cobalt blue hand blown size 14 beads
Bracelet in mixed metallic purples size 12 beads
Bracelet in brass-lined transparent brown size 11 beads
Lariat in mixed metallic greens size 11 delicas
Bracelet in mixed transparent red beads - red size 15 charlottes, garnet size 15, and dark red size 15 3-cuts
[Ready for stitching closed:]
Bracelet in silver-lined clear size 12/13 beads
Bracelet of matte transparent red size 11 beads - red cotton cord in center for support due to unexpected stretchyness of crochet
Bracelet in brass-lined brown size 11 beads
Bracelet in silver-lined pink size 10 hex-cut
Bracelet of matte transparent deep purple size 12 delicas
Bracelet in 3 types of mixed transparent - 3-cut AB grey, matte pink and light grey size 11 delicas
Bracelet of AB mid-green matte size 6 beads
Bracelet of silver-lined transparent purple size 9 beads
Bracelet of matte transparent bright purple-blue size 11 beads
Necklace in internal hex-cut brass-lined brown size 11 beads
Lariet of mixed transparent - 3-cut AB grey, matte pink and light grey size 11 delicas ready for fringe and fittings

Knitting Projects:
Prayer shawl in natural coloured brown sheep's wool (breed unknown) on 6.5mm needles
Prayer shawl in limbo Colour "timber" on 4.5mm circular needles
Prayer shawl in two types of cotton chenelle yarn (six 50g black balls, six 50g home-dyed balls) on 4mm needles
Scarf in leaf lace in socka colour "parrot" on 2.75mm needles
Top down Socks (second one at the heel) in socka colour "hummingbird" on 2.5 DP needles
Toe up Socks (first one started) in Regia nation "Rainbow" sock wool on size 2.5mm DP needles
Hat (cast off and ready for stitching and tassel) in Regia nation "rainbow"
Scarf (cast off and ready for fringing) in Regia nation "rainbow"

Lucetting Projects:
Plain String lucet cord for future dying project to be used in braid
Green bracelet with beads in thin lucetted cord(from crochet cotton)
Bracelet from various colours of silk and silver-lined size 9 beads (ready for stitching closed)
Bracelet in two shades of pink thread and 2 shades of size 9 pink beads ready for findings (thinking of undoing it and restarting it - the beads look too close together on inspection)

Braiding Projects:
Circular hollow braid made with Black cotton yarn and natural linen thead for hat band
3 seperate fillgap braids in 14/4 using embroidery floss (1 in oranges, 1 in purples, 1 in greens&blues)
Round marudai braid on round cardboard card in 16 strands of embroidery floss for necklace cord (in white, green, blue and purple)
Round peruvian braid on square wooden board in 16 (8 purple and 8 blue-grey) strands of embroidery floss
Round marudai braid on square cardbord card in 16 (in black, red and grey) strands of mixed cotton and rayon embroidery floss
Gold and silver Fillgap 7/3 on cardboard in DMC embroidery floss
Fillgap 7/3 braid in reds and black in mixed wool and rayon embroidery floss
Fillgap 10/3 in mixed silk madeira threads
Round peruvian braid on square plastic card in 16 (8 green and 8 gold) strands of size 8 DMC cotton
Flat marudai braid on rectangular card in 32 strands of (mixed reds, oranges and yellow)embroidery floss with beads on 2 of the strands
Fillgap 10/3 braid in flat gold ribbon and cotton cord - that needs to be partially undone and reworked
Round peruvian braid (16 strand) in brown and green embroidery floss finished, whipped and waiting for beads to be stitched on and fittings attached - it's a necklace

I'm sure there are other projects I haven't found and listed here, so when I find them I'll mention them later.

Bye for now.

And for the next entry

I'm testing the e-mailing entry capability with this. If it works, I'll be very
happy.

Bye for now.

Well, my first crafting on-line journal. I'm not sure how often I'll post on this, and I don't even have an image-hosting site yet so I can put photos up, or links to them, of what I do.

The name. Well, I'm a compulsive starter. I like doing, not finishing. Not really a good thing, but hey, the title's an attempt at humour.

I'll put up a list of works in progress later this month.

Bye for now.