I-chords, felt and beads combine

At a craft course at Glenthorne I learned how to knit i-chords on a circular needle. This was a real breakthrough for me because I saw how they could be used for jewellery and began experimenting with combining i-chords and beads.

My first attempt, at the beginning of 2008 was a single i-chord on 5 stitches in a combination of dark red wool and gold fingering thread. I made a loop and button fixing and decorated the centre front with a combination of beads and buttons.

 I gave it to a freind for her birthday but I did take a few photos first (although the focus was not too good for the detail!).                                                                                                                                                                                                  

There were several problems with this first attempt. The buttons etc that were lower than the chord would not lie flat but I wanted to do more than just sew things onto the chord itself. It was another workshop, this time about felting, that gave me an answer. Making felt of different thicknesses and putting together different shapes on top of one another gave me a base that I could make more three dimensional. I also discovered that as I covered it with beads my sewing pulled it into yet another shape.

So for my next attempt I made a two tier felt circle, sewed it together and added beads and a button to it, starting in the middle and working outwards. I also made the i-chord bigger by plaiting together three 3-stitch i-chords. Using bugle beads over two layers of felt added to the height of the finished centrepiece, but the whole necklace was not very large.

My next necklace was more ambitious. I started with quite a large felt construction and ended up with a big, bold, very sparkly centrepiece - much more complex and striking than I had expected. It was as if I was expressing a different side to my personality while I worked, adding more and more to the centre without planning the finished result.

I also changed the construction of the i-chord. I had bought some multi-coloured ribbon/wool on a trip to America and I used this to make three 3-stitch i-chords which I then plaited together. The finished felt and bead centrepiece was sewn onto this plait, quite low down so that it sat properly when worn. [Originally I had sewn it on too high up and this is what this photo shows]

Here are two more photos which show the height of the centrepiece from the side and some of the detail of the beading.

I have really enjoyed making and wearing these necklaces [although the ribbon i-chords do have a tendency to stretch- a fault that I am still working on] and in my next post will show you some more of my creations.

Knit one, purl one - very slowly

My mother taught me to knit but neither she nor I were very good at it (unlike her sister Phyllis who could knit Aran sweaters while watching television!) so I have always confined myself to basic stitches and small projects.

I have knitted squares (along with other people) to make up into blankets and when I started having children I tried knitting things for them. I could manage small cardigans and dungarees in stocking stitch using random wool to make the enterprise more interesting. My pattern bible was Knitting Fashion by Pam Dawson, the book of the BBC2 series which came out in 1976 - as you can tell by the cover! It is still a good basic book though and obtainable through Ebay.

I even managed to knit a couple of simple sweaters for myself. Perhaps the most complicated design I attempted was a sleeveless tunic which in 1982 became a maternity smock in dark green with a pattern of chevrons in brown and yellow.

Usually I stuck to much simpler patterns in interesting random wools. This is one I knitted for myself in green and at the same time I managed one in blue and one in purple using the same wool and a similar pattern with wide sleeves. 

But as the children grew up and life got busier I did not find time for any knitting projects except occasional scarves. I was sewing and doing patchwork and I did not really miss my knitting needles. Sometimes I thought about learning to crochet but never found a teacher or a book that I could follow. Eventually, a few years ago, I went on a course at Glenthorne in an attempt to learn. I was taught the rudiments but I also really enjoyed knitting this quite complicated scarf.

I really enjoyed putting the colours together and the way in which following the pattern produced this lovely wavy shape.

The Glenthorne course was a revelation in another way too because it was here that I learned to make i-chords - of which more in the next post.