the Akamai Knitter

Since last year I’ve wanted to play with resin. It wasn’t until this last bead show I went to that I finally took the plunge.

You’ve seen my first attempt. Now I’m ready to put a few pendants out there for sale.

Of course, the one I love the most is the black cat.  That one isn’t up for sale quite yet. I thought I’d show her off a little more though.

I’ll definitely be making more of these. She’s too adorable!

Thanks to all of you who asked after my safety during the Tsunami scare.  For those who don’t know, I don’t live in a coastal area so I had no need to evacuate. In fact, I was quite snug in my home for the duration of the event.

It did shake me up a bit though. I live right next door to the warning sirens. To hear them blaring at 6am was quite a wake-up call. Especially since I went to bed at 2:30am the night before.  It’s taken me a few days to get my sleep schedule back on track. I think I’m good now though. :)

There’s another bead show tomorrow.  I’m not as excited as I usually am. I think I’ve reached a heavy saturation point where beads are concerned. I feel like my stash will soon explode and then I’ll have drowned to death in a sea of beads.

Haha!

So I plan on going tomorrow and I plan on being extra picky. My main focus will be the Green Girl Studios. I love talking to Andrew and her beads, buttons, and pendants are just so fabulously unique. I always go a little crazy at that booth.

Sammy says, “Whazzup!”

(Let us now talk about the carpet. The carpet is doesn’t exist in my reality. It just doesn’t. In my reality that right there is hard wood floors.)

Happy Thursday, folks!

So I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been consumed by the seed beads. Only I’ve missed my shiny, so when the new Step By Step Wire Jewelry came in the mail, I was inspired to try one of the projects.

This is what I came up with.

Of course it’s a little different then the project in the magazine, but whatever. I didn’t stray too far from the original design.

That is until the second and third piece. I’m calling them Medusa’s Nests.

I originally just left the edges alone, but genius Jamie suggested I coil square wire all around the piece. I’m not sure she meant to coil it the way I did, but that’s the only square wire I had on hand.

This piece was done with an earring hoop frame.

The earring hoop is made with a really thin wire, so I decided to make my own frame with a sturdier wire. That’s what I did with the third pendant.

The kitty bead is from Green Girl Studios and was the basic inspiration for the pendant. There’s a bead show rolling into town next weekend and if you wear a piece with one of their beads you get a free bead!

I’m not sure how Andrew from Green Girl will like what I did to their bead, but I used it and I’m gonna wear it.

You see, I’m really ambivalent about my latest creations. I can see they’re not for everyone. I mean, you should have seen my mother’s face when I showed her the purple pendant. She has very classic and simple taste.

So when I wore one to a class at The Bead Gallery and I received compliments, I ended up acting like a fool, asking people “Are you sure it’s not too garish?” or “You don’t think it’s gaudy?”

Yeah. Way to take a compliment!

But since I did indeed receive compliments and I have a lot of fun making these, you’ll probably see them pop up in the shop.

That is if I don’t drown in seed beads.

Happy Thursday, folks!

I made a deal with Cookie because she’s such a good friend. She sends me beads and I make her jewelry. In return, I get paid in beads. Cookie likes the simple stuff, so this works even more to my advantage.

As I was making her jewelry, I was inspired to keep on going with the simple.

Sterling Silver Crimson Red Glass Earrings

Sterling Silver Carved Cherry Red Glass Earrings

Black and Silver Lampworked Glass Earrings

Thank you, Cookie for the inspiration!

Sometimes less is really more. Not to mention there’s a certain restfulness in such simplicity. :)

Speaking of rest.

Since I once again woke up at 6:30am, which is waaaay too early for me considering how late I go to bed,  I do believe Quincy has the right idea.

Happy Tuesday, folks!

I was so out of whack yesterday I completely forgot it was Valentine’s day, so a belated Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you.  It was also Chinese New Year’s so a belated Happy New Year as well!

I spent the day watching The Wire – Season 5*, knitting, and making some jewelry.  Some of it I can share with you, the rest will have to wait as they’re gifts to certain persons who read this blog.** *

Actually, I can only share one piece with you.  It’s a charm bracelet.

I admit to having a bit of  a skull/skeleton fetish, so I couldn’t resist those Day of the Dead charms when I saw them.  It’s just too bad they’re too big for stitch markers!

The stones I used are Black Jade, Blue Goldstone, and Swavorski Pearls. At least I think those are Swarovski Pearls. They were just floating around in my stash with no label.

Don’t you hate that? Mystery beads and mystery yarn really get my goat.

As for the knitting, I’ve made some progress on the beret.

I think I’m achieving slouchy. I hope I am at least.

o.O

Sammy is meditating on the state of slouchy.

Happy Monday, everyone! Hopefully the majority of you are enjoying a day off. :)

*This is my second go around with The Wire. I just can’t get enough of West Baltimore. At least from a distance.

* Some of my friends and I decided to exchange gifts on Chinese New Year’s instead of Christmas so we’d be less stressed over the holidays and we figured we’d be able to get them out on time by then. The less stress worked. The being on time thing? Not so much.

So just for kicks, I thought I’d bombard you with more handspun.

Pa-pow!

The details:

Terra

100% Targhee

420 yards
18 WPI
4.1 oz

Fiber Credit – Hungry For Handspun

I got this fiber for my birthday a year or two ago. (Thanks, Jen!) I adore Targhee. Adore it! I tried to spin it spider web thin, but somehow that didn’t happen. Still, I got some pretty good yardage on it.  Enough so that a person could make a nice shawlette with it.

Pa-pow!

The details:

Woodland Faun

100% Superwash Blue Faced Leicester

185 yards
12 WPI
4.5 oz

Fiber credit – Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club

I loved loved loved spinning this up even though the colors really weren’t up my alley. I also don’t like to spin regular BFL.  But the superwash? I dig the superwash. It has a nice sheen to it and a softness the untreated BFL doesn’t seem to have.

Or maybe I’ve just been spinning the wrong BFL?

Pa-pow!

The details:

Sweet Respite

100% South African Fine
185 yards
12 WPI
4.5 oz

Fiber credit: Hungry For Handspun

I worked really hard to keep this a low twist single. I minded my treadling and I cranked up the tension. For the most part I think I did okay. Plus, South African Fine is another favorite of mine. It’s so soft! I also have crazy love for the colors. So soothing!

Another thing I have to bore you with is the same necklace I’ve shown you before. Only I tried to jazz it up a bit by adding pearls. I didn’t add a crap load of pearls, just a touch here and there.

I tried to get a shot of the necklace on my velveteen display stand, but my camera totally freaked out on me. I don’t know what happened, but it was not pretty. I’ll just save you the eyesore and skip those photos.

Sadly, I have no pretty scenic or feline shots for you. What I do have is a shot of me and my friends enjoying lunch at the Waioli Tea House this past Saturday.

Can you guess which of those lovely ladies is my mother?

Happy Thursday, everyone!Thanks for putting up with me and my zany ways!