Monday, November 3, 2008

playing around with beads and wire

I finally sat down and took some time to play around with beads and wire...

2008_1101bracelet0013

I think that the hardest part about crocheting with wire, is that you have to accept that it will come out all random and squiggly looking! No matter how much you practice, you won't get those perfect evenly shaped stitches which you get when you work with yarn. Wire just doesn't work like that. It's not particularly co-operative.

So you need to relax your expectations, and learn to 'embrace' the squiggle. It's fun and quirky... so just roll with it.

bracelet

As you can tell, my bead selection was random. But I like random. I didn't put much thought into it, since I just wanted to experiment a little with what I had on hand. There's an assortment of materials in there too... some glass, some plastic, some wooden... but ALL recycled!

This worked up so quickly. It was a bit fiddly, but certainly not difficult. And I think it's a fabulous gift idea to keep in mind for the holiday season.

One thing I do need to learn a bit more about though... is my method of closure. No fancy 'findings' for this little black duck! Take a look at my technique here.

pin join

Yes. Your eyes do not deceive you. It's a humble safety pin!

I can see my father rolling his eyes right now, and muttering about the importance of finishing details... I can hear his voice in the back of my head... if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well!

Never mind. I will learn a fancier technique, and when I do - I will share the knowledge with you all. In the meantime, this little pin works beautifully... and it's a perfect colour match too.

Perhaps the safety pin can be a design feature?

So now I've pulled out the knitting needles to see how they work with the wire. Hopefully I will have some photos to share with you tomorrow.

44 comments:

annemarie said...

You truly amaze me - I think this is so neat!! Can't wait to see how the knitted wire comes out.

Learning Spanish at 41 said...

But that same random and squigglyness is what makes these very organic...and pretty. Nice work!

Tina
Pfeiffer Photos
pfeifferphotos.blogspot.com

Amanda said...

Great bracelet.

joyce said...

I absolutely love your blog. Thank you from Rome.
Antonella

Tess said...

The safety pin is very punk rock. Vivienne Westwood eat your heart out.

Unknown said...

Gorgeous! Congrats on making "blogs of note."

Cats-Rockin-Crochet said...

You finally found the time? Where? You've blogged so much about all of your projects, I can barely keep up with you, talking about bears, I love the bear with the scarf!
You have achieved a lovely result with this bracelet, I know what you are saying about not getting those perfect stitches, but I think it adds to the beauty of wire crochet.
Random beads, way to go!
Question from me to you?
Would you call me a recycler if I go to markets and trash & treasure and always buy up peoples left over yarn? I was thinking about this the other day. Because I have so many different ply's and colours, I could always attempt some of your methods with this, combining different yarns. Let me know what you think.

Sam said...

Lovely bracelet, but don't inspire me with any more projects - I'm still trying to catch up!
Do I remember reading that you used recycled wire? From where/what?
And I have a craft encyclopedia from the 1970's which has jewellry made only from safety pins, so you've no problems there.

Katy said...

Hi there, i love your bracelet, i started Knitting with wire a while ago and it is so hard to work with, i get sore fingers! Yours seems so neat though, mine end up quite messy looking. I use end pieces and kind of sew them onto the ends with some wire, have a look
whatkatydiddesign.blogspot.com
I have some in my shop.

Love your blog :-)

Anonymous said...

I like the safety pin closure...it does match perfectly.

Gab45678946 said...

lol nice knitting

Btw check this search engine out
http://www.weegy.com

Anonymous said...

wohhhhhhh..... wire properties, organic, elements and perfect hands!

nu said...

well its just awesome.i'm into beading too just now.and just tried wiring for my brooch last saturday. i think you got a lot going on there.keep up!

laughing purple goldfish said...

thanks to everyone for stopping to comment... I love reading what you have to say

cat - you could definitely try some of these techniques by combining randomly from your stash... as for buying 'pre-loved' yarn... yes, I think that is an extension of recycling... it has little environmental impact, helps minimise consumerism, is financially friendly, and challenges you to be more creative... I think it's wonderful :)

sam - the wire I have used here is new 28 gauge crafting wire... I am working on 'releasing' some copper wires from inside electrical cables, it's a bit thicker but should still do the job... will certainly blog about it in the future

katy - thanks for the link... I'm always interested in seeing how other crafters tackle these things

Mama Mima said...

i like your blog. you're very creative.

Mrs. Tomacina Wuthrich said...

I really appreciate your creative use of ordinary things.

Michael Lockridge said...

Congratulations on the Blog of Note.

I am a word crafter, but am always delighted to find people who have mastered physical media. Your work is lovely, and the photography is excellent. A nicely crafted blog.

Mike

KAF said...

Congratulations on the Blogs of Note. That's so appropriate! It makes me think the Blogs of Note people must know what they're doing. :) ((hugs))

W. Suhailaliza W. M. H. said...

hallo! it is such a lovely bangle! i love it?? is it for sell?? i'd love to have one! =D

Anonymous said...

Hi!
Am from India .. and am so glad to have found your beautiful blog. :-)
I absolutely love knitting and crochetting ... and also do other odd little things from used knitted stuff ... only wish we had a colder weather here. :-)
Keep up the good work and all the best!

Sharmila

KAF said...

Where did the wire come from? I think I remember you stripping the plastic from wire cables a while back. Was it that?

laughing purple goldfish said...

more beautiful feedback... thankyou everyone

kaf - hugs to you to sweetie :) this wire is regular crafting wire, the recycled wire was a bit more difficult to 'release' from the electrical cables than I first expected, but I hope to be using it within the week

ellymelly - my etsy store will be opening soon

The villager: said...

A great concept for a blog.

tutietutu said...

That is so neat! Great job, I think it looks fantastic!

Jill of All Trades said...

So very cool

Shravan Vijayaprasad said...

Awesome bracelet:) The squiggliness is also pretty nice to look at!

W. Suhailaliza W. M. H. said...

oh really?? where will it be?? ermm..i'm from Malaysia..so hopefully you'll have it online too and a delivery service! =)

Melania Szinger of WEALTH-INSPIRED BOOKS blog said...

Wow, that's way too cool. I adore your creativity!

Melania Szinger
http://wealth-inspiredbooks.blogspot.com/
...inspiring wealth into your life

Sharon said...

beautiful and great shots too!!

TAB Photographic said...

ahhh, yes, those finishing details... LOL... You could always just weld it on. hehehe

Unknown said...

That is beautiful! I have never heard of "knitting" wire. Amazing!

Linda said...

I love your bracelet, and the squiggles make it even more unique. I'm a bracelet fanatic and will have to give this a try. What sort of wire did you use? oops, just checked down the list of comments and see you already answered that. Thanks very much. I'm off to try some tunisian crochet tonight and then I'll get some wire and try your project. I've already got a stash and a half of various beads to use. Thanks for the great idea.

Anonymous said...

That bracelet is gorgeous! And the random beads make it perfect. I don't think it would be near as attractive if the beads were all in some kind of order. Love it!
Jan in TN

Anitra Cameron said...

I love crocheting with wire! The closure has been an issue with me, too, mostly because I'm always aware that at any given time there's just one strand of wire. The methods are evolving over time. I'm just Sure that one of these days I'll come up with something I'm truly satisfied with.

Thanks for sharing your experiment--it's beautiful!

Lucky-1 said...

Oh your just so clever and the bracelet is just lovely.:D

laughing purple goldfish said...

thanks again to everyone for the wonderful support...

ellymelly - I will blog about my online etsy store when it opens in the next few weeks... thanks for your interest :)

Caribbean Colors Belize said...

I love it and am going to try it. I just shared this link with my daughter who is very creative and loves to crochet and make jewelry.
--Lee
Caye Caulker
Belize

sacredstonesngifts said...

Wow!! I just found your blog and it's interesting and fun. I tried to knitting and crocheting with wire and my bracelets look...well they don't look like bracelets. Love your work

laughing purple goldfish said...

lee - it really is good fun... enjoy :)

sacredstonesngifts - oops! do you know where you went wrong??? what a shame! I'll beputtin up some step-by-step photos soon, so that might inspire you to try again

ReillyClan11 said...

Hi. I found your blog under blogs to note with blogger. I think the bracelet is very pretty and would like to us your idea for a Christmas gift. But I wanted to know what kind of wire, what size needle, and what stich? I cant what to see more of your blog.
reillyclan11

laughing purple goldfish said...

reillyclan - check out tomorrow's blog post... you will see exactly how I make these :)

Memoe said...

Hello. Can I follow this blog? It's very interesting to read. I have a blog also. I'd love to be a follower, but I'm not sure how. Thanks!

~ Memoe

laughing purple goldfish said...

memoe - thank you... I would love you to be a regular reader of my blog... on the top right hand side of the page, there is a box to fill in if you would like to subscribe via email... just enter your email address, it's as easy as that :)

Dr. Wannabe said...

wow. such a tinker! I wish I have time to do the things you do..great work :)