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Beadweaving and Crochet Blog

Friday, March 31, 2006

Sunflower Glass cover

I made this for my grandma. Actually she is my dh's grandma. She's given me crocheted cellphone cozies, potholder, glass cozies, etc. and I have never gave her anything that I have crocheted. I made this one specially for her to cheer her up. She's lost a daughter 2 weeks ago (Patrick's aunt) and thought this would cheer her up a bit. She looks so sad when we visited her last Sunday and my heart went out to her. She's lost 2 children already. First one was my MIL and now my aunt. It hurts too much to lose a child and she's been through too much in her life. Anyways, I made this with size 10 cotton thread and size 7 steel hook. The pattern is #99 of 101 Small Doilies. The beaded dangles are all glass that are attached after making the doily.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Beaded Thread Shawl for Bonnie

I rushed to finish this as I still have another shawl to finish which I was commissioned to make. This is done with Monaco Raylon thread with size 8 hematine seed beads. The first pattern I tried for this shawl was using the love knot with beads that are slipped and not crocheted. I was already a third into it when I noticed the stitches were uneven. Next I tried RachelG's sarong using lacy net stitch with shells but the beads turned out wonky when I tried crocheting the beads in one side only. I really have to learn how to bead crochet in one side only. The third try was finally something I was very happy with. Even if the color is not very springy, the pattern was and I'm satisfied with the way it turned out. I bead crocheted around the edges and did the beading on the motif. Total beading time took about 5 hours which does not count the stringing of the beads. Someday I'll make one for myself...... :-)))))) Here's a sneak preview as I want this to be a surprise in case Bonnie checks out my blog. lol! I'll be sending this out tomorrow together with a couple more packages. Hope Bonnie is happy with this.
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Monday, March 27, 2006

Beaded Flower Motif pattern

I made this flower motif last year to make a scarf for woolandflax who was my partner for the summer scarf. She wanted it in variegated lavender and I made her a long scarf. I wasn't able to take a picture of it as I didn't have the camera with me and I was in a hurry to send it to her as it was almost the deadline. Kimberly (Woven N Spun) asked the pattern for this and I was hoping she'd post the pattern on her blog but she didn't so here it is. She made her version using variegated threads using 2 strands of size 10 and it turned out very pretty. It can be used as a belt as well.

Beaded Flower Motif


Materials:
small amount of size 10 cotton thread
8 pcs 4mm pearls or size 8 seed beads in matching color
size 2 steel hook

gauge is not important

Row 1 - Chain 5. Join to form a circle.
Row 2 - Ch 3. (Counts as first dc) Dc in next st drawing a bead in last thread over. Dc in next. Do this until the last dc with bead. Join to top of ch 3. (8 dc's and 8 bead dc's)
Row 3 - Sc in same st. Ch 10. Skip 1 st then sc in next st. Do this 8 times. Sl st in first sc. (8 loops)
Row 4 - Sl st in first loop. 2 sc, 3 hdc, 4 dc, 1 trc, 4 dc, 3 hdc, 2 sc in first loop and in remaining loops to form a flower. Join. Cut off and weave in ends.

You can join them by sewing the motifs together in the trc of 2 petals to the next 2 trc petals of the other motif.



Friday, March 24, 2006

easy beaded barrette and another toddler's poncho

I made this little beaded barrette last night. I removed the bar from under the metal barrette then sc'd around. I wanted the barrette to look full so I bead chained 6 in every sc and voila! Very easy and pretty! lol!






another poncho this time for my little niece, Jeri......

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

not beadweaving but beading

I finished adding some matt gold cut beads on this top which I was commissioned to do. I originally designed this to have the beading done on one side only but after beading one side, it looked unfinished so I beaded the other side. What do you think? It's been a long time since I did some beading on an outfit.....heheheh!!!!

Birthday poncho

My kids are invited to a party this Friday. I decided to make a poncho for the celebrant. This is done using Sugar and Cream Cotton yarn and LB's fun fur in Rainbow. The pattern is Chelle's lacy shell poncho. This one took only 2 hours to make.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Rainbow Rings Pouch

I made this for Jillian. She has been asking me if I was making her a bag whenever she sees me crocheting. I used wooden rings that I found while I went hunting for purse handles. These are 1" in diameter and each strand has 100 rings. I'm thinking of making a tote out of these rings or maybe a beaded bracelet. The possibilities are endless........if only I had more time! LOL! Oh, Jillian was very happy with it and she had a huge grin when she woke up from her afternoon nap and found it beside her.
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I've been RAOK'd again!

I went to our P.O. to mail Deneen's package and as I normally do while there, I checked to see if there was any package for me. I got another one from Kathy and apparently this one was sent first before the cone holder. Kathy sent some size 30 cotton threads and some size 15 beads. I have always wanted to try threads finer than size 10 and I'm so very grateful to Kathy for her generosity. Thank you Kathy for being a great friend. We are blessed as your have been a source of inspiration with your beautiful creations and for your generosity in sharing your patterns. I have learned many new crochet techniques thanks to you. You have touched many a crocheters' lives and I am one of them. I am one of the many who eagerly wait for what you will share next and Crochetville is blessed to have you as one of its members. Thank you again, Kathy!!!!!
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Monday, March 13, 2006

a few surprises

I got mental block beading wise the past few days. I started on a couple of beaded bracelets but didn't like how it's turning out so I had to redo everything again. I surfed hoping to find inspiration and finally saw something which I liked. :-) It's another "freeform" bracelet and I'll be sending this to Deneen together with her orders as the last time she ordered some beaded items from me she gave it away as gifts. I hope you'll like this, Deneen! I made this specially for you. Here's a sneak preview......heheheh!!!
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Another surprise was my SIL's dad whom I also call Daddy as he is my godfather. He told my SIL that his wife wanted me to make some outfits for her as they have a formal gathering they need to attend. It's been almost a year that I have designed a gown or a dress and I was happy for the opportunity to design and do the beadwork for her. The timing was right as I was looking for something else to earn extra income as shipping costs has gone up and I have no choice but to adjust them. I'm thankful I still have my sewers with me as they have been loyal all these years even if I am not very active in the fashion field as I prefer to crochet and make beaded jewelries. lol!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Got RAOK'd and my Spring purse

It was a wonderful surprise to get these 2 packages from our post office when I went there this morning to mail some packages. The first one was an RAOK package from 2 anonymous senders. She gave me some clues as to who they are that sent me the thread cone holder that I have been drooling over ever since Marv posted it over at C'ville. It was pretty obvious to guess that one of them was Kathy as she said that one is known as the doily queen and that her DH was the designer. lol! The other clues Kathy gave me were that she is one of the all time swap queens at C'ville, she is addicted to swaps and had participated in every swap there was last year. Another clue is that she rarely comments on the forum but is a good adviser if someone is in a quandary. When asked to describe herself, she called herself a Strawberry blonde and that we were not likely to see her in Denim. Oh, last but not the least she is from Norfolk, Virginia. My guess is the other anonymous fairy queen is Lani aka dhaunae as she is the only Swap Queen I know and she rarely comments. Judging from her picture, one can see that she has red hair.....or that is what my poor eyes tell me. LOL!!!!! Thank you so much, fairy queens! You are both queens in your own right and both are beautiful inside and out. I am very thankful that you are my friends and that you both have thought of me. I shall never forget this and I shall forever treasure your gift.
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The other package is from the spring purse swap. My swap partner is Bonnie. She made me a beautiful felted tote. I love the colors and the extra special beaded handles which matched perfectly with the tote. I just love crochet with beads. She also sent a couple of novelty eyelash yarns in aqua, some fruity smelling candles and a very cute purse shaped photo frame. Thank you so much, Bonnie! I told you you have nothing to be nervous about making me a tote as I would love anything you make for me as I know you took time to make me one.
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I wonder if my other partner Karla has gotten her purse yet......

Oh, I also want to share about the wonderful bargains I got yesterday when I went to one of my favorite craft store. They had some vintage hanks of yarns that were unmarked but the manager told me they were made in Japan. I winded in up and I had a ball of fingering weight yarn the size of a baby's head. Also bought some DMC crochet threads in royal blue and dark green, some nylon cord in white, a dozen of sportsweight white yarns made by Coats Germany. The most prized find that I quickly added to my basket was some vintage size 50 variegated thread which were wound in wooden spools. They were old as the spools were already quite yellowish in color though the threads were in good condition. All these cost me about $4. I have always wanted to try crocheting with threads smaller than size 20. I'll look for more of these threads when I go back tomorrow as I have to buy more purse handles.
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Saturday, March 04, 2006

furry tote and Priceless Peridot

I don't know what happened to my Explorer as it kept saying that my cookies are disabled when they are not. I'm currently using another browser to post on my blog. Anyway, here are a couple of finished crochet projects. I made this tote while doing another test for Kathy's doily. I usually have at least 3 projects going on as I tend to work from one to the other. lol! And that's not counting my beadwork projects! LOL! Here is a tote I made for my youngest sis. It's made from some fur I got from a private swap with Lynlee.





And finally Kathy's Priceless Peridot which is my birth month doily. This is my second filet piece. :-)))))