Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Sometimes you just have to make pretty.



I knit a little sonnet for my neck.

Flecked with navy, black & white.

I used my favorite yarn. I believe it's a wool blend. I can't quite remember now. I purchased it several years ago at Canvas Works in Olympia when I was visiting Catherine. I love it because it felts.

Accoutrement

This is my first attempt at knitted jewelry, I am sure there are better tools but I used
a very pliable wire so I could manipulate it with my fingers. 

Primal knitted balls.

Next step was to create some knitted adornment, I used US 1 double pointed needles.
After the balls are finished I felt them so the gauge is smoothed out and the texture is all around softer.

Refined felted balls.

To felt knitted projects you need warm water and friction, some suggest a little soap as well, but make sure
it's good for delicate items. I like to hand felt the balls. I run them under some warm water, for these I used
a nice lavender soap in the felting process, and you basically just roll them between the palms of your hands.
It's very therapeutic and makes your hands really soft. Similar to when you are using a gas mower
and your hands vibrate on the push handle (is this a real thing to anyone else, I hope so).

Pretties on a pike.

Next come the skewering. I just made all of this up. Basically you need to cut a piece of wire, impale
the ball through the center, secure one end and make a loop on the other. Sometimes they look a little
wonky but you can fix it if you mess around with it. When I actually get tools I should outgrow
this problem. But for now this is to me as sewing a straight line is to Christine.

Voila!

Then you string them up and arrange them to you hearts content. 

& Tada

And your heart will feel contented.

2 comments:

  1. The lawnmower phenomenon is real. And this necklace is real cute.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This post makes me happy. So does this clause: "To felt knitted projects you need warm water and friction." And, I want to add my support for the lawnmower effect.

    ReplyDelete

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