Tendrils

Since I planted my first one in the garden a couple of years ago I've got a bit into ferns. I feel like one of those Victorian women who got caught up in the pteridomania of the 1800s. The fern craze saw people grow them, study them, draw them, paint them, and fern motifs were used a lot on ceramics, glass, jewellery, decorative furnishings and in architecture. Also, custard creams. That scrolly pattern on my all-time favourite biscuit is a Victorian one and it was inspired by ferns.

I've been trying to figure out how to do something ferny with my beads for a while now. When I noodle with a bead idea I tend to do so over a long period of time, just having a faff around every now and then until something works. That's how this 'tendril' design happened. I'd been looking at a fern book, particularly at pictures of the fiddleheads of furled fern fronds (a lot of 'f's there) and I drew out a really stylised and simplified interpretation of some. It's in the same sort of vein as the custard cream fern design; it's not instantly recognisable as ferns but it was very much inspired by them.

I'm used to adding scrolls to beads but it took me a while to get this new idea down in glass because the simplicity of it makes it tricky to get it just right. The stringerwork is essentially a wiggly line with a scroll at each end, applied around the belly of the bead, then it has several scrolls that branch off that initial wiggly line. However, the line can't wiggle too much but it can't be too un-undulating either. You don't want too many scrolls branching off it and those scrolls need to be evenly spaced and not too close to each other, so there's a lot of things to remember and get just-so on a 12mm diameter bead.

This strand of eight black and white tendril beads are the first fern-inspired beads that I'm happy with. The design is consistent, I can replicate it and it's pleasing to my eye. This basic set is a good foundation upon which I can experiment and refine the design further.

If you'd like to buy this strand, they're available in my shop.

In knitting news...

I did cast on for some socks. The pattern is called Dear Björn (which sounds like an ABBA tribute act) and its from the Laine 52 Weeks of Socks book.

The wool is Malabrigo Ultimate Sock in 214 Magenta.

I think that's all the blog I've got for today. Have a good Wednesday!

When a Whirly-Go-Round becomes a Vortex

These beads are what were once my Whirly-Go-Round beads but with so much more twist they no longer qualify as Whirly-Go-Rounds and are now 'Vortex' beads instead.

These blueberry-coloured ones are made with Effetre Blue 220, Lavender Blue/Pastel Ink Blue 247, Light Violet 041 and Super Clear 006. The beads have a nice depth to them which is hard to catch in a photo.

Earrings with French earwires

Pendant

I've turned the Vortex beads into earrings and pendants. The earrings come with French earwires but if you prefer more secure leverback fittings I can add those for an extra £2.00 per pair.

Earrings with leverback earwires

All of these can be purchased in my shop.

In other news...

I walked up to the Impington mill yesterday.

I like to wander past it every now and then and whenever I do I vow to attend the next open day so I can have a proper look inside and around it, but I've still never been. Maybe this year will be the year?

I've been doing a lot of walking this month. My foot has finally got better after that bout of plantar fasciitis and I've been enjoying my daily walks. I normally do about three miles and I do a longer one on a Saturday or Sunday. Granted, the January weather doesn't make for what most people would consider ideal walking conditions, but I like it. I love being out in the cold air and even when it's raining. Of all the weathers wind annoys me the most but when you're out walking in it it can be really invigorating. On my walk back from the mill yesterday I was walking into quite a strong wind so I had to put more effort in and I arrived home rosy-cheeked with my hair all over the place, looking like Neanderthal woman.

I've been reading a lovely book called Trees in Winter by Richard Shimell.

Richard is a printmaker and I've followed him on Instagram for a while now. He makes the most beautiful linocut prints of trees. The book is part about his craft and part memoir and it's full of Richard's wonderful tree images. His accounts of walking and just taking in nature, particularly the trees, really chime with me. You can see Richard's work on his website, his Instagram, and his book is available on Amazon.

I'm off down to the shed now. I've got an idea that I want to try out but as with many of my bead ideas it may well end up fizzling away to a nothingness so we shall see.

Have a good Monday and I'll see you soon.

Ditsybeads and knitted jumpers

I made a few Ditsybeads. These are Double Helix Rhea Light and Theia, enacsed in Effetre Super Clear 006 and decorated with flowers in Effetre White 204 and CiM Marigold.

At the time of typing I have some pendants left and one pair of the purple ones.

There's also a lone light sapphire blue pendant. The blue used here is Effetre Dark Blue 056.

The beads and pendants are available in my shop.

In knitting news...

I finally got round to taking some photos of the three jumpers I've knitted over the last couple of months.

Fear not, the jumpers were only on hangers for the photographs - when they're not being worn they are folded, not hung.

The porridge-coloured jumper with the cabled yoke is Sculpt by Unwind Knitwear. 

I absolutely loved knitting this and I've worn it a lot since I finished it before Christmas. The yarn is Drops Flora in shade 22 White Fog. The yarn is a wool and alpaca mix and although it's only 4ply it's nice and warm.

The green one is my current favourite jumper because it's just so smooshy and cosy to wear. The pattern is Urban Romance by Kutova Kika from her brilliant book Knits to Wear. It has a lacy front and back and floompy balloon sleeves with a honeycomb cable pattern.

I knitted the jumper in Drops Daisy in shade 17 Moss Green held together with one strand of Drops Kid Silk in shade 19 Dark Green. This merino and mohair mix gives a wonderfully fluffy, airy fabric that is just so nice to wear. I adore it.

The plain lilac-coloured jumper is another one from Kutova Kika's Knits to Wear and the pattern is called Simple Things. It's an oversized, snuggly jumper and I've got it on as I type.

I knitted the jumper with about fourteen inches of positive ease so it's proper roomy and comfy. This one is knitted in Drops Daisy in shade 07 Sweet Orchid and the colour reminds me of Parma Violets.

I currently have nothing on my needles. Chris has asked me to knit him a jumper so I've got to order the wool for that. I think I might cast on a pair of socks in the meantime because you can never have too many socks, can you?

I must away into the rain now to go and post some beads. See you soon!

Wintry walks

First things first, just in case you've come here, seen non-bead pictures and decided to head elsewhere, I'm having a little January sale. Right now there is 25% off everything in my shop - beads, jewellery, stitch markers and all my crochet gubbins - and the sale is running until midnight on Tuesday 14th.

I love this frosty weather. It's just right for me. It's icy cold without being slippery underfoot, it's dry and bright, and everything looks utterly beautiful, especially in the soft golden glow of the early morning sun. I've been taking photos on my morning walks and I thought I'd post a few here.

I do love a dramatic teasel.

Have a lovely Sunday!

New year, new bead holes

I know I'm a bit late with the new year greetings but happy 2025 to you!

January is such a nothingy time. I always get a 'new year, same old same old' feeling with it rather than a 'new beginnings and fresh page' one. I do like the weather of it, though. It's frosty and crisp here today and when I popped to the shop for onions earlier I felt like I could walk for miles in the icy-cold fresh air, but alas, laundry, hoovering and bead stuff needs to be done.

Yesterday was my first day back in the shed. I've been very taken with the beads with smaller holes I made at the end of last year so I decided to see if I could make my usual sort of beads on the 1mm mandrels too. You might think it's just the same but the diameter of the mandrel greatly influences the shape that the bead naturally wants to be. A 4mm or 5mm mandrel will give you a more donut-shaped bead and a 2.5mm or 1.6mm one will result in a fatter donut shape. The 1mm mandrel gives you a much rounder bead. It's not spherical but it's too wide to be classed as a donut. This gives you slightly more surface area to decorate so things like polka dot patterns and scrollwork need to be adjusted slightly. Yesterday I just stuck with spotty beads while I worked out what size the core needed to be and how much encasing glass I needed to add to get a consistent size and shape while maintaining the all-important not-at-all-sharp bead hole surrounds. I've got it sussed so tomorrow I'll faff with other designs.

The 1mm mandrels are not easy to work with. They have a tendency to boing about and I melted through a couple so I had to adjust where I was working in the flame. Smaller mandrels result in smaller beads so these are about 10.5mm diameter as opposed to my usual 12mm to 13mm, but that's fine by me because I favour little beads.

Cleaning the beads is a bit more tricky too. It's near-on impossible to take them off the mandrels without bending them so I've been nipping the bent ends off when I've removed the beads. A bend in a mandrel is a wonk-maker, and in a 1mm mandrel it's also a weak point that can be easily melted through. Using the Dremel to clean out the bead release requires more precision so I have to really concentrate so that I don't slip with the reamer bit and scratch the bead surface with it.

So what are the bonuses of a smaller bead hole? The main one is that the beads 'sit' better when threaded on wire, thread or headpins. Seed beads snug up nicely to them too.

All of this doesn't mean I'm abandoning my usual 1.6mm mandrels. I just want to see what I can achieve with the smaller bore bead holes.

And speaking of bore, I think I've wanged on quite enough about mandrels and bead holes now. Honestly, if you're still reading, well done. I can't think that this is interesting in the slightest.

If you like the spotty beads in this post, they're available in my shop. I've got two strands of nine beads for sale and I can tumble-etch them for you at no extra cost. They'd look great etched because of their icy colours. Oh yeah, I forgot the colours. In this case they are CiM Foam encased with Effetre Pale Aquamarine 038 with spots in Effetre White 204.

Now it's time for me to sort that laundry and hoovering. I hope the rest of your Wednesday is good. See you later!