Mohair Shawls Frenzy

I haven't posted for a while, but it is only because I was busy on a new venture - diverted from beading to KNITTING this time.
The inspiration came after visiting some Ravelry pages where beautiful, light-weight shawls were described.
Being a keen knitter before I took up with the beading, I immediately decided to try.

My mum has introduced me to knitting when I was about 6 or 7 years old, and I used to make all kinds of knitting projects from clothes and accessories to blankets and throws.

But I have never tried making anything that intricate and complex as mohair shawls.

I studied the subject, researched the topic, looked for the suitable yarn and knitting needles, collected the patterns from the Internet and bought a couple of books on a topic.

As the result, I have finally come up with the following:
- use kidsilk mohair lace wight, preferably 70% Mohair, 30% Silk
- use 3.5 - 4mm size knitting needles, preferably Bamboo as they are very light-weight
- start with the rectangular shawls then advance to triangle shawls
- learn blocking techniques

And the craziness has begun. Gradually my mum got involved too, and we were producing more and more shawls, trying out various yarns, patterns and shapes.
As a result, the pile of the ready shawls was growing.

We have made presents for friends and family, and sold some of them.

Here are some of my favourite pieces for you:

Some of my project are now on www.loveknitting.com

My favourite yarn for these projects is Rowan Kidsilk Haze

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Knitted Mandala

Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning "circle" or "disk." This circle is a schematic representation of the habitat of deities in Buddhism. The symbolism of the mandala - is a complex structure where the outer circle is interpreted as the universe, and the inner - the habitat of deities.

There are several kinds of needlework mandala, some of which are crocheted mandala.

They partially resemble multicolored knitted cloth or mats. However, in the figure and the selection of colors for the mandala lies deep philosophical meaning.
Location of colors in the mandala:
1. The color in the central part represents the most important at the moment.
2. The dominant color in the mandala is the principal. Even distribution means that our energy is evenly distributed between some objects, types of our lives.
3. The color, which depicted the original terms of the mandala is about the interaction with the outside world. For example, red indicates anger or energy to the world. Green - the ability to educate others.
4. The colors at the top of the mandala are consciously understood processes. At the bottom - it indicates what is happening in our unconscious. In the middle - the threshold between conscious and not conscious content.

How to Reuse Old Perfume Bottles

Every girl has some of them, but somehow hesitant to throw them away - because they are so pretty!
So do look like works of art, and in many cases they are, created by the refined imagination of the best designers in the world.
So... Here are some ideas that I picked up from the web:

Decor - Bud Vase 

To have a great result like that, you will first need to remove the top part and wash the bottle thoroughly. You may need to use some pliers to remove the top part. You can wash it with alcohol or odour remover. Or wash them out with a little soap and water, then with a little alcohol to remove the scent. If you have any residue that is old and difficult to remove, try putting some uncooked rice in the bottle and shaking it up really well. That usually will clean it out. Then rinse well and leave it uncapped long enough for any moisture to evaporate completely. 

Decor - Vanity

Fill it with faux pearls,

Or fill it with glitter. To get this effect you mix water and glue (just a little of each) and put it in the bottle, then funnel the glitter in, close it up, and roll it around to cover the inside with glitter. Let dry.

Spray Bottle

Fill with your favourite essential oil solution and use as a spray for body or to refresh the air, or even as mosquito repellent spray. Fill with water and keep it next to your indoor plant to use a s mister.

Paperweight

Fill it with something heavy and decorate eg, use broken jewellery, ribbons or crystals

Sell on eBay

You may not realise but some of them sold very well, and vintage pieces can fetch pretty good price

Pendants

Use miniature perfume bottles in your jewellery designs. Make it a focal piece of your new necklace, or have it as a pendant on a chain.

Christmas Decorations

Decorate and hang them on the Christmas tree, or turn them into snow globes.

Sun Catchers

Create the design you like and hang them in a sunny window or a sunny spot in the yard and look at them sparkle and make beautiful colours reflect everywhere.

Lamps and Lampshades

I wish I knew how to do it! Looks pretty though.

Candleholders

My Crochet Flower Bag

Customize your own free picture collage

Drake Jewel

Sir Francis Drake, vice admiral (c. 1540 – 27 January 1596) was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. 

Drake carried out the second circumnavigation of the world, from 1577 to 1580.

Upon his return to Plymouth after his voyage, Drake presented the Queen with a jewel token commemorating the circumnavigation. Taken as a prize off the Pacific coast of Mexico, it was made of enamelled gold and bore an African diamond and a ship with an ebony hull.

For her part, the Queen gave Drake a jewel with her portrait, an unusual gift to bestow upon a commoner, and one that Drake sported proudly in his 1591 portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts now at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. On one side is a state portrait of Elizabeth by the miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard, on the other a sardonyx cameo of double portrait busts, a regal woman and an African male. The "Drake Jewel", as it is known today, is a rare documented survivor among sixteenth-century jewels; it is conserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Tagua Nuts - Jewellery

What is Tagua and how the jewellery is made?

It's really interesting to know how TAGUA jewelry is made, since it take several month from the moment they collect the tagua nut, until the moment the product it's made and ready to sell.

The tagua nut is a dried seed from the tagua palm tree, which grows in tropical rain forests of South America (Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Brazil).

Tagua is also known as natural ivory or vegetable ivory, because its similarity with ivory (it's hard, unbreakable, resistant and beautiful), but tagua is natural, they don't have to kill elephant in order to get it.

The tagua nut comes in a fruit that carries multiples nuts. Each nut has a shell that contains the seed. This seed is the size of a chicken egg and is covered in a thin brown skin.

The nuts are sun-dried for 4 to 6 months before they can be worked with. Once dried, tagua can carved and be polished to a bright shine. Tagua's natural color is white but it is easily to dye and can be found in different bright colors or pastel light colors.

Handmade tagua jewerly is not only beautiful,colorful, resistant ad unique, but after you get to know the long process that takes to make the jewelry, you are going to be amazed by.

Source: www.latinartjewelry.com 

Fordite, or Motor Agate

What do you know about Fordite?

Fordite, also known as Motor Agate, is a unique automotive enamel material with an interesting history. The original layered automotive paint slag "rough" was made incidentally, years ago, by the now largely extinct practice of hand spray-painting multiples of production cars in big automotive factories. The paint over-spray in the painting bays gradually built up on the tracks and skids that the car frames were painted on. Over time, many colorful layers built up there. 

These paint over-spray layers were hardened repeatedly in the ovens that the car bodies went into to cure the paint. Some of these deeper layers were even baked 100 times. Eventually, the paint build-up would become obstructing, or too thick and heavy, and had to be removed. As the story goes, some crafty workers with an eye for beauty realized that this unique byproduct was worth salvaging. It was super-cured, patterned like psychedelic agate, and could be cut and polished with relative ease! Wow!