Make New Jewelry, Keep the Old

Just like the old Brownies song, one is silver and the other's gold.

New, not yet in the store, is this Freeform Crocheted Flower necklace.

This design is a departure from my usual style --the crochet is a little more involved, the beads are Swarovski crystal and seed beads rather than gemstone beads, and it has a lobster style clasp rather than my usual toggle clasp.  The pattern has a bit of a different approach as well,  more of a technique tutorial  or recipe than a stitch by stitch pattern. Like no two snowflakes, no two flower necklaces should be alike!

Another new project with seed beads is this 3 strand bracelet.  A very easy bracelet, this would be a great knit with wire or crochet with wire first project -- (the pattern is written for both knit and crochet). I experimented with the clasp on this bracelet as well  -- it has a slide type clasp. I'm still doing a little tweaking/proofing of the patterns for both the Freeform Flowers necklace and the 3 Strand bracelet, but I hope to have kits for both available at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival in just a few short weeks.

And as for the old and gold?  I knit up a sample of the Falling Leaves necklace in gold.  Stunning!

Wooly Headed

This is just a quick post to explain what I've been up to. Busy, busy, busy is all. Too busy to blog. I was at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend. It was my first time as a vendor at this event. It's definitely the sheep-iest of all the fiber shows I do. I loved the sheep and the sheep dog trials. In fact, I fell in love with a border collie puppy named Winston who was looking for a home. He looked at me with his big brown eyes and snuggled in my arms and fell asleep. I knew it was never going to happen, but I did actually call the DH to see if I could bring him home. Of course, we would never get a dog. We are cat people and our cat is not dog friendly (or other cat friendly for that matter). I must have been under the influence of all those sheep at WI Sheep and wool because I was certainly being wooly headed.

No pictures from Sheep and Wool, sad to say, I still haven't found my camera charger. I may need to buy a new one. My sis was at the fair to help me (Yes,the same one who helped me in Madison--proof that she still loves me after that little sisterly adventure). She took a few pictures. If she sends me photos, I'll post them here.

I do have other things I should be posting pictures of. I have a rather large finished object, The Many Buttoned Vest from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Vests was started and finished since my State Fair post. Well, it's 99% finished because I don't have any buttons for my Many Buttoned vest. I'm envisioning some celtic looking brass buttons, but I have yet to find them.

I have been crazy busy with school (i.e. my job) and school (i.e. grad school). The only reason I'm writing now is because I'm taking a 5 minute a break from writing lesson plans. (Uhm, okay, 20 minute break, and yes, it's because I'm procrastinating on writing those lesson plans.) Sigh . . .better get back to it.