January 01, 2006
handiwork
Here are some of the things that have kept me busy this vacation. Actually, the knitting kept me busy; the beadwork has just been a product of today while my sweater parts are drying from their blocking. I had a small sweater emergency last night: as soon as the knitted parts got wet, they stretched out entirely; the knit was see-through and the ribbing laid as flat as the stockinette section. Banff is supposed to be roomy, but I don't want the sleeves to be gorilla-length! I've got it drying outside today to speed the process (it's 65 degrees or so and sunny) with the ribbing squinched together and the rest of it sort of pushed together a bit, and now that it's almost dry I think it's regained some elasticity.
Most of the beads in these earrings are from Elisem's Beads of the Month program; you can't tell, but the top left white earrings are quartz (November, Quartz and its Imitators), and the top right silvery glass ones have a tiger-eye effect (December, Optcal Phenomenon). The middle ones are lampworked (Sepember, maybe), and will go to Bozoette Mary, who won them for her contribution to JournalCon, unless she tells me those colors aren't good for her. (Mary, if you prefer, you could have either of the top pair, but I'm afraid I'm being selfish and keeping the bottom ones. Or I could make you something different.) The lowest ones are a style I haven't tried making before. I'm very happy with the way they turned out. The silver pieces are from a local bead store; I had some of the Swarovski beads, but the others, as well as the inspiration, are from Elisem's Colors of Fire package.
