What was that about "instant gratification"?

I saw a tutorial on Craftster for a beaded bangle and posted my interest in it at 7:40pm. I then dug two cheap, tarnished Claire's bangles out of the trash (not as gross as it sounds, the bag was only jewelry waste from the other night), bummed around Craftster a bit more, made some posts, and at 9:50pm I already have a new beaded bangle. Photos later.

As promised, a necklace.

Actually, make that plural. Necklaces. I think what appeals so much to me about beading is the speed with which projects can be completed. As I mentioned in my knitting heresy post, I'm really big on instant gratification, so the ability to finish a project in a night and wear it the next day makes it very appealing.

I made an illusion necklace while in the throes of sickness the other day.



It took longer than it probably should have, but I'm pretty out of practice with beading to begin with. Pair that with the not feeling so hot and it's not surprising that I had to redo it a few times, mostly because the cord got all crimpy and didn't look right. As it is, there's an odd crinkle in the final product, but it wasn't significant enough to make me want to redo it again.


All the beads came from the pallets I bought on clearance, and the clasp came from my pilfering the other night.

Now, as for what I was talking about last night (which was actually very early this morning by the time I posted it), I wanted to attempt making a pair of cherry earrings. I already had hooks up the wazoo, so I hit the craft store for jewelry findings (clasps, crimp tubes, etc.) and beads to use for the leaves and stems since nothing in the pallets really matched. Upon returning home and starting plan A, I discovered that there weren't enough red beads to make two sets of cherries. "Ok, plan B, let's make more fruit and make a necklace out of it!" After spending about two episodes worth of Mythbusters trying to make a mikan that actually LOOKED like a blasted mikan, I tried googling patterns for fruit charms to no avail. Then plan C hit: I would use the cherry pendant as the centerpiece, then link beaded kyu-pins (I'm not sure what they're called in English, but in Japanese they're named because they look like the number 9) to make the rest of the necklace.



I futzed with a few different combos before deciding on the green/blue/silver/clear color scheme. The bead pins are symmetrical up each side, but none of the patterns per side are duplicates. It had the world's tiniest, most obnoxious spring-ring clasp on it when I wore it today but replaced it with the much-easier-to-manage toggle clasp after work.


Here's a closeup of the cherries, I tried to get a shot of the beads up the side but was once again thwarted by my lack of camera talent, they all came out blurry. I may post a tutorial for the cherry charm later on, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out considering I just winged it and figured it out. I knew how to make "bead balls", and after that the stems were pretty much basic bead stringing.

I wrote up a tutorial and posted it on Craftster; I'll add it here with photos at some point in time that isn't when I'm sleepy and in need of a shower.

Random Thought 6/12

I really hate it when an idea looks a million times cooler in my head than in reality. On the upside, failure of both plans A and B led me to waste a lot of time make a necklace that I'm almost certain is made of awesome. I'll test that theory when I wear it to school tomorrow and hope it doesn't fall apart since my wire bending skills are a bit rusty. Photos tomorrow if it holds together.

Also, I completely lost track of time and should have been in bed an hour ago.

My hands smell metallic

I just spent a good chunk of time watching old Mythbusters episodes and dismantling cheap Claire's jewelry for parts.

Shortly after I moved to Japan, my mom sent me two huge bags of jewelry that a client who worked for Claire's HQ had given her. A few of the pieces passed inspection as things I would actually wear, but most of it looked too cheaply made or didn't fit my taste. I kept it all for a while, thinking maybe I'd use some of it as prizes for classes. I even gave a few pairs of earrings away to some junior high students who ambushed me and had me cook them dinner one day. But really, I had no use for it and pretty much forgot about it.

That is, until I went on this beading kick. Suddenly I remembered, "hey, I have two big bags of ugly jewelry that I can raid for parts!" I ended up with two necklace clasps, several sets of earring hooks, a buttload of jump rings, and even some beads. Score!

Looking back at yesterday's entry, I probably should have taken better photos to show detail on the pins and the colors of the yarn. Maybe when I'm unsick I'll reshoot them. Better or not (though mostly better), I'm headed back to work tomorrow.

Crafts that aren't made of yarn (and some that are)

Not quite sure what's gotten into me, but I'm on a major beading kick right now. I had been working on a pin which I mentioned in my massive WIP entry, but I hit a sort of mental block about it. It's been years since I've worked with beads, and when I was younger it was mostly in the vein of beaded flower necklaces and things of that nature.

Anyway, I finally finished the pin and made another one as well.



(The DS is there to provide a point of reference on size. Oh, and to show off the nifty Plusle and Minun cover I bought at the Poke-center in Fukuoka).

The one on the right is the one I mentioned in the previous post, the pattern came from a Japanese book called Beads Box. It looks ok if you don't look to closely at it, but it's a little funky if you do. I've decided to keep that one and use the one on the left as part of the present the first one was originally intended for. The one on the left is a star from All Info About Jewelrymaking.

Here's the circular pin in action:


It's now officially the clasp for my Sweet Pea Shawl from SnB:HH. It's made from Denim something-or-other, 100% cotton. I found the yarn at my craft store, petted it, and knew I had to have it, so I bought the last 3 skeins of the purple colorway. Then I crocheted away with my typical disregard for gauge, knowing I wouldn't have quite enough anyway (mine ends with 3 shells left at the bottom instead of 1, and it's not quite as wide). Because it's a bit smaller, tying it is somewhat awkward, and I decided a snazzy pin was the answer, so there you have it.

As an added bonus, here's a scarf I made a hella long time ago:


It's a Yo, Drop It! scarf from SnBN. I made several as gifts out of some Joann brand ribbon yarn but don't have photos of those. This one is made from Lion Trellis on size US 13s instead of the recommended 11s (I was trying to stretch my yarn). It occasionally doubles as a belt.

Random Thought 6/9

Between all the forums, communities, and blogs, sometimes I think I read about crafting more than I actually do it. I just joined Craftster.

I also figured out why I haven't wanted to knit: it's because I want to bead! Pics later, after sleeping. Being sick and on bed rest for a week has really messed up my internal clock since I haven't had to get up for work.

WIP it, WIP it good!

"Why don't people understand? I've got a short attention span, short attention spaaaan!!"- Fizzy Bangers, Short Music for Short People (That's the entire song.)

I've been threatening to do so for a while, so at long last, here's a rundown of most of the projects I'm currently working on.

Somehow I've amassed a huge assortment of yarn:


And that's not even counting the 100% acrylic put aside specifically for Warm Up America knitting:


Let's not even talk about all the fabric and buttons and whatnot that have somehow manifested in my sewing room.

So I want to use up as much as possible before moving back to the States at the end of the summer, and these are some of my attempts.



Mikado Ribbon Fingerless Gloves, made not from Mikado Ribbon yarn but a 70% bamboo/30% cotton blend called Eco Summer by Hands Products. I bought it because it was luscious and seafoam green, but there wasn't enough to make a full garment. I had wanted to try this pattern for a while, and the yarn seemed like a good match. It's wonderfully soft and silky but a bit splitty; really, it reminds me of a higher-end Micro-Spun.



Magknit's Matilda Scarf. This has been on the needles since December, I just got a bit sidetracked. The black yarn is Cozy-something-or-other, 100% acrylic but very thick and soft, the multicolored is Applause, 100% polyester chenille, I think it's also by Hands Products.



Paton's Cabled Bag. I decided to do the center panel in a different color, mostly because I didn't have enough yarn to do it all in one color. It's made with Daiso Soft Tweed, a wool/acrylic blend from the 100 yen store.

I have a few other knitted projects that I won't post right now for various reasons, but lest you think I only make things out of yarn, here are some other in-progress pieces.



This is a pin I'm trying to make as part of a present (I'm not posting the rest of it in case the recipient checks this blog, which I'm not sure she does), the pattern comes from the Japanese book Beads Box. Japanese patterns tend to be heavy on diagrams and light on explanations, so I'm not sure if I'm assembling it right and have kind of stalled out on it for now.



This is the first non-costume garment I've made in a long time, using a vintage 60's pattern purchased on Ebay. It's casa satin from Joann Fabrics, the pattern has a matching jacket, and I plan to add some beading when it's done. I feel a bit rusty with my sewing, though, I'm having trouble getting the darts to not pucker.




This is a wig I'm styling for a Setsuka costume I hope to eventually finish, using techniques from Katie Bair. I thought I'd make it while here, but materials have been very hard to come by, so I probably won't finish the costume until I'm back in the States.

The Dangers of Clearance Sales

In the past two days, I have acquired an absurd amount of new materials. My original intention was to buy more of the blue merino yarn, enough to make the Unseamly Sweater from SnB: The Happy Hooker. Not only was I able to obtain said yarn (I was really afraid they'd be sold out after the pumpkin-color disappointment), but I also picked up two skeins of tan (for what, I don't know) and one skein of rose to make a hat. The lilac I had purchased became a scarf and hat which I'll post later.



Now, you're probably saying, "but Marisa, there are four kinds of yarn there, and you only mentioned three!" Or maybe you're not. Either way, the fourth skein is Katylana Soft Colorful (100% nylon and wonderfully pettable) which I found today in the clearance bin for half off. As yesterday's post said, I just barely ran out of yarn while crocheting a hat, so today I went to pick up another skein of the rose. Silly me, thinking I could escape with just a skein of yarn!

Thanks to their clearance, I also stocked up on beads:


The palette sets are really nice: each one contains a mix of seed beads, pearls, faceted beads (is that the correct term? I'm so not up on bead lingo), glass beads, and nylon bead cord. The smaller vials are a mix of seed and tubular beads. Here they are after being organized (more or less) by category:


They're much easier to see without the plastic baggies, aren't they? Plus, I have 2 extra palettes in case I buy more beads.

As an aside, this particular craft store offers a stamp card, for every 10,000 yen you spend, you receive coupons worth 500 yen towards your next purchase (basically for every $100, you get a $5 credit). They also offer some sort of special bonus if you complete 5 cards. I'm already 3/4 done with my third card -_-;

Also, I was right, they're getting rid of the winter yarn to make room for the spring yarn. It has arrived. It's delicious.