Rogalski crystal earrings

Pattern is in Step by step beads Jan 2008. Very foolproof and fast and gorgeous too.

bronze set in RAW

Fast and easy. Bronze seed beads (Japanese) for RAW base with Czech crystals 4mm and gold 15mm for center. Earrings similar

tubular herringbone earrings

This is my own pattern for the earrings. I made it before with red, green, blue and gold beads. It got lots of compliments so now I'm trying in different colors. I start off with 12 beads (2 of one color, 2 of gold, etc) Go back into them by 2 at a time and connect first to last set. Then start off by going up and down: 1 down and 3 up. The fringe is usually about 6 beads or so. The gold here is a bit heavier than the other beads but the earrings aren't that heavy so it's good as the gold might tarnish if worn next to the skin.

red bracelet

This second one came out better.

Keava from In the Hebrides

I am busy on this pullover by AS. I changed the number of repeats to 17 and 306 stitches for about a 42" bust for me. My normal gauge on 3.25mm needles is 7 sts=4" and I've decided to stick with this for all the fairisles I do. The yarn is from Jamiesons and the pattern is from In the Hebrides. The main problem is that it is a boxy sweater and also I had to cut down the number of rows in the bottom ribbing as it would have come out to 4" which I feel is too much. The total length will be close to 25".

Bead lady bracelet

The Beadlady is one of my favorite sources for patterns and this is one of hers. Good way to use 4mm cubes too.

RAW bracelet with crystals

Just a simple bracelet in RAW stitch with Czech crystals and size 15 gold beads added in center. I feel like making more in different colors.

Negev, Eilat

I spent 4 days on a trip to Eilat with a group from ESRA, English language speaking group here in Israel. We stayed at the Lagoona hotel in Eilat and every morning saw different sites including this spot for birdwatching flamingoes. Just wanted to show t he reflection in the water.

Singapore bead books

This book by Jestina M. Hong, Enchanting handmade jewellery (isbn 981-05-2501-x) publisher Abblizzio Creation. www. abblizzio.com has 100 designs with 70 graphically illustrated. 3 methods are used: stringing, looping, and wiring. Everything with Swarowski crystals. Instructions in English with everything charted out as in the Japanese books. No beadweaving however. There are lots of nice photos showing the items and a total of 159 pages in this hardbound book which was published in 2005. It is for sale only in Singapore at Borders there and at some of the local beadstores. I also saw it at the Singapore national library and it is the only book in its category and is cataloged there in the rare books section for Singapore crafts. I didn't buy it in 2005 because it was about $40 US and I thought I might find it on Amazon but no such luck.
While there this time I was in luck as her second book appeared.

Wonderful handmade jewellery ISBN 978-981-05-8461-0
This large sized paperback is 116 pages and has a lot of interesting advs from Singapore beadstores. No necklaces but lots of earrings, bracelets and rings. Same type of beading and using Swarowski and pearls. Price is 29.90 in Singapore dollars and I bought it at Mix & match at the People's park centre.

While in Singapore I was looking for a bead centre but what I found were a few centers plus other stores scattered around. Arab Street is one center with many stores but mainly they sell Indian beads. Since I was walking around feeling ill after Bali, I didn't do much checking but I think Swarowski were also there.

However I got to the Golden dragon in the People's Park centre and on the way to it I passed a few other beadstores including Mix n match where I found this second book. The Golden dragon sells Delica but only the original size 11 and lots of Swarowski. I was able to get the VAT removed (7%). The other stores sell Swarowski and other beads and supplies. Including some nice storage plastic containers and various books. I also found Sheilah Cleary's second book there and bought it. One item I bought everywhere I went were the ball and socket clasps made in China.

peyote bracelet (beadlady pattern)

This took about a day to make. I love it. It uses Delica, and size 11 and size 8 plus some crystals. I also used my Toho 1g thread which works beautifully.

long twisted bugles

I found these bugles in Singapore and at the time was too new to know what to do with them. The other day I realized I could do ladder stitch with them and then add other beads in brick stitch. The crystals were added every other bead not in brick stitch.I was thinking of adding some pink beads on top but Tami said better as it is.

Video review of Dominick: cables, diamonds, herringbone

A good basic intro to the world of ganseys.

Swarowski and Delicas bracelet

I'm planning on making more of these. I'm using the Toho 1-g thread which is fanstasic to work with. It doesn't fray, is easy to thread, doesn't make knots. Perfect for me. There are 12 colors at this time. It's made of nylon a nd seems to go a long way.

bugle bead brick stitch bracelet

The bugles are in an interesting color variation and it was something I just made without a pattern and decided to make my own toggle instead of adding something in gold. I am thinking of making a few more with different colors.

crocheted baby blankie for a boy

I used the final pattern: 101 in the 101 stitches for afghans book by Jean Leinhauser. The yarn was a cotton/acrylic called Topacio by Valeria di Roma bought from Elann. I think it's a good one for a baby and easy for the mommy to take care of.

Shelridge Farm Strata pullover by Lucy Neatby

I originally bought the Neatby bicycle sweater but found it would be too much work plus I stopped riding my bicycle anyway. So I contacted Shelridge Farm and they were very nice to me sending me the instructions for the Strata sweater plus a little more wool to complete it. I decided it would be nice as a raglan so changed the instructions using my J. Fee book for that. I did follow the row color guide exactly though. It's a nice medium weight sweater not as warm as my arans but definitely useful.

EZ hand to hand aran pullover

I started this sweater some years ago with the online email group but after doing one sleeve, I stopped and only picked it up again recently. I am very satisfied
with it after I made one change. I added ribbing for a neckline to make it warmer for me. I also found one mistake in the pattern added across the front and back from the Barbara Walker book. There's a mistake in row 2 and the last k2 shouldn't be
there. I did follow the pattern otherwise for the largest size for 42" chest. I used Forsell Slalom aran yarn bought on Elann also many years ago a nd I needed 15 balls of 50 grams each at 90 meters each. Needle size was 4mm and ribbing 3.5mm. I made my sleeve 17" long and the front and back sections were 24" long with about 8" for the neckline. The left sleeve came in a bit less than 17" but it doesn't seem to present a problem. For the bottom I changed from her instructions to do a hem with a thinner yarn and instead just decreased the stitches 10% and did a k2,p2 ribbing. My length on the body section was 14" total. It could have been a bit longer. I may decide to make it again but I don't want to make that lattice section from the BW book. I found it difficult to remember and had to use a row marker in order to do it right. The other cables though were nice and easy making it a fairly quick sweater to make. I never did understand EZ's final notes about making the sleeves narrower at the top as it seemed to be just fine as it was.

Crocheted shawls - book review

Crocheted shawls is one my latest purchases and it's from the Vogue Knitting on the go series. I want to make most of the 21 projects! That's amazing for any book and especially for this series which usually has just a few items of interest in each book. Most of the shawls are on the difficult side and many use unusual techniques also such as broomstick lace. Most of the designers are young and new such as Kristin Omdahl who has the broomstick shawl and the spiral shawl. The granny square shawl is a sort of cape. There's an interesting round medallion shawl. Others with motifs are the star shawl and the spiraled flower shawl by Robyn Chachula, another new designer to watch. Suzanne Atkinson, of the Rowan group, has two lovely ones.Doris Chan is also in this book. The only shawl I find unattractive is the aran shawl so this book is definitely a must if you're into crocheting shawls.

Climbing the ladder

This is by Victoria Pearlman in the Step by step beads for Nov/Dec 2007. I will probably make it again. I'm using just ordinary beads of which I have a lot so this will be good to do with some of my other ones as well. It was quick and fun. First you do the bugles lines in ladder stitch and then you hook them together with the seed beads.

embellished square stitch by Jiron

I finished an embellished square stitch bracelet from the latest Step by step beads by Regina Jiron. I just had the right beads for this one and it was a nice fast project that I will enjoy wearing.

knitted dolls

Why are patterns for knitted dolls done in lots of little pieces? Crochet is done spirals in the round. I think the Germans knit in the round also. Makes more sense to me.

Roberti crystal bracelet

This was a free online bracelet by Roberti. Took just a few hours and I'm very pleased with it.

poor blogger

I'm sorry about not blogging for so long, but I've been really busy with my crafts and stuff. Right now I'm beading every day and also trying to develop my own fairisle cardigan. I've done most of the design on the body with one more section still to go and hopefully I'll have enough of the yarns because if not, I have to change some designs to other colors.

I'm also working on an Aran pullover for my daughter and finished a small version for my granddaughter. Then I started making a crochet doll and am now very interested in doing more crochet toys as opposed to knitted toys. It just seems more organic to make them the crochet way where you crochet around all the time. With knitting the patterns are done flat and then joined. I imagine one could also do them around, but I haven't seen any patterns done that way.

I taught myself to do hairpin lace from a website and bought the Boye fork but it seems very flimsy when I use it.

I've done a lot of book reviews for Amazon but I think it's time I began to write a few on my own blog. I try not to buy yarns but when it comes to books and patterns, I haven't declared a diet yet. Today I just got the latest Evelyn A. Clark book on triangular shawls.

Bead lady bracelet

Cathy Lampole, bead lady, designed this bracelet using Delicas and Swarowski crystals. I first ran into it on a friend in London. I just finished it today and it took me about 3 days as I'm not all that fast with peyote and delicas. The central Swarowski section went quickly though. I plan on making more of these.

necklace based on "white Russian book"

I've seen this pattern used in Bead and button and I made it first from there. Then I went to the white Russian book and found the pattern the way it is here which I think is much better. When you use the bugles, you don't see the bead thread.