Showing posts with label buying yarn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buying yarn. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Ladder Ribbon Necklaces

Crocheted jewellery has been around for many years. The latest 'twist' has been the necklaces and bracelets crocheted from the ever popular ladder ribbon yarns and flag type yarns.

Very simple to make yet so elegant when finished!


From a distance the necklaces look extremely intricate as they glisten and sparkle but upon closer inspection you will notice that its the yarns that are doing all the work.

Ladder ribbon yarns are simply composed of small panels of fabric suspended between two rows of thin fibers hence the name ‘ladder ribbon’ yarns. They come in various widths and compositions, some as wide as 3/4” and some as narrow as 1/8”. Some of the yarns have a little splash of metallic in them to give that little extra bit of shimmer.

Flag yarns are composed of small panels or ‘flags’ of fabric attached to a single strand.

Making a simple necklace


Materials

One ball of ribbon yarn or flag yarn.  A single ball generally will have enough to make a few necklaces.

I like to use a large crochet hook, preferably a J (10.5mm). 

Ruler and scissors.

A nice selection of yarns is available on Etsy.com 

To begin:

1) Cut 5 strands of yarn each about 10’ long

2) leaving a 12” tail, make a chain about 24” long, finishing off by
pulling the tail through the last chain. Be sure to leave about 12” at
the end as well.


3) With the 5 strands completed, lay them together matching up where the chains started. Knot the strands together a few inches up from the chains on either side.


4)  To close the necklace, holding both sets of ends together, tie all 10 strands in a single knot about 2 “ up from the orginal knots. The knot that I tie at the back of the neck is done so that there is some of the yarn 'dangling' after the knot is tied and the yarn trimmed





 Its NOT a scientific method at all.

And there you have it! A very simple yet elegant necklace that takes about 1/2 hour to make.

Some of my favourite yarns to use are the Diamond Lase from Ice yarns with its  amazing diamond like embellishments right in the yarn

Or the South West Trading Company's Calypso ribbon yarn with its fun texture and softness.



Whatever yarns you finally select, just have fun with them and let your imagination guide you!


Sunday, January 25, 2009

Hyperbolic crochet

One of the acknowledged wonders of the natural world, the Great Barrier Reef stretches along the coast of Australia. But, global warming and polutants are threatening this marvel. As homage to the reef, Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute for Figuring have instigated a project to crochet a woolen reef - an enterprise that in involving hundreds of people all around the world. Over the past few years, the Crochet Reef has grown into a vast installation involving many thousands of models and dozens of 'sub-reefs'. The Crochet Reef has been shown in New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh and in London.

In April 2009 the installation will be on exhibit in Scottsdale Arizona, as well has facilitating the creation of the Scottsdale Reef, constructed by community members.

On January 22, I had the pleasure of taking part in a workshop on the creation of Scottsdale's own Coral Reef project. What a pleasure that was. Taking bits of 'yarn' in all weights and working on some 'scrumbling' (freeform crochet) with the master herself, Prudence Mapstone. It was a true pleasure to meet Prudence as I've been admiring her work and method for years.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Its getting out of hand....

I'm finding more and more people who are yarnaholics like myself!! Unfortunately, I can't help myself... I just love to buy yarn. I found this wonderful shop on Etsy called JuliaEileen that has the most wonderful yarns that she is destashing. And the prices!! Wow!! Talk about bargains. This is the place to find some wonderful yarns.

I've also set up a yarnaholics group on Yahoo where other yarnaholics can meet and discuss their obsessions with yarn. Come and join us!!