Knot, Ready for Prime Time

You know how sometimes you get a song stuck in your head? Well, that's been happening to me a lot lately. Not sure why, as we don't really listen to much music in the house (Pat and I have different tastes in music). Maybe they're coming from the TV shows we watch, as I know is the case with yesterday's stuck-in-my-head melody:

I hear tell you're doing well.
Good things have come to you.
I wish I had your happiness
and you had a do-wacka-do,
wacka-do wacka-do wacka-do.

Catchy, right? An old song by Roger Miller, who made some of the funniest and happiest songs there were back in the 50s. At least I think it was the 50s. I know my Mom had one of his albums and we used to listen to it a LOT and then sing his songs at the tops of our lungs when we were in the car. What fun.

So how does that song relate to the title of this blog post? Follow me here... I've been having these songs stuck in my head... and I've been beading away making some fun new little bracelets using ndebele ropes and magnetic clasps... and as I was making the bracelets I was trying to think of a name that would describe the series... and I wanted to have the word "knot" in the name... and "Not ready for prime time" was stuck in my head. I couldn't get past it. So there you go. Stuck in my head, and now "Knot, Ready for Prime Time" is the name of my new series of bracelets.


I have three of them listed in my Etsy shop so far (with a couple more waiting in the wings). They're such fun to make that I know there are going to be more of them. Anyone have any color suggestions for me? :-)

Also new in my Etsy shop is this bead crochet lariat called Madison Ave.


Matte black and matte silver beads (the silver ones are from one of my favorite Etsy sellers: Shannon, of beadsandbabble) in a diamond pattern (actually diamonds within diamonds). As I was trying to figure out treatment to give to the ends I had a sudden inspiration to use some of my friend Dee's lathe turned polymer clay beads. They're PERFECT!!! I've had these for months, and I even had them sitting on a shelf for awhile because each one is like a tiny sculpture. (By the way, if you want to see more of Dee's wonderful polymer clay creations, visit her Etsy shop, Malodora).

And now it's time for me to get back to work. Currently in progress (because I can never seem to focus on just ONE thing):
- a new version of my Morning Glory Vine cuff
- a new peyote pattern (just needs a bit more tweaking before I bead it)
- getting patterns ready to publish (Queen Anne's Lace, Royal Flourish, Camouflage, and Swoosh are top on the list because I've had requests for them all)
- figuring out how to finish that Lisa Peters bead and ndebele rope that I posted about a few weeks ago (!)

Sometimes multi-tasking gets the best of me. But then I can just sing a verse or two of Do Wacka-Do and everything seems okay. :-)

A New Lariat and More Fun in the Mail

Whenever I receive new focal pieces, whether they're beads or cabochons or anything else, I have to let them sit for awhile until they tell me what they'd like to become. Sometimes it takes awhile for them to talk to me, and sometimes they're so chatty that I can hardly contain myself until I create something with them.

Last year I received these beautiful Midnight Blue Carnival Beads from a very talented polymer clay artist, Dee Wilder (aka Malodora). They've been whispering to me for awhile, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that some of them spoke up and told me what they'd like to become. Unless you've seen or touched some of these beads yourself, you just can't believe how wonderful they are. The colors are gorgeous, they have a heft to them that's so different from any other material that size, and Dee somehow manages to create depth and dimension through the careful layering she does. They're buffed to a high polish and are incredibly smooth.

So my big challenge is to create something worthy of this beauty. I listened and listened to the beads' voices, and they told me they'd like to become part of a uniquely designed necklace/lariat. I thought about making a spiral rope, but I didn't want the rope's spirals to conflict in any way with the somewhat spiral design in some of the beads. And although I have all the materials I'd need to create just a simple string of beads, I'm not really "into" stringing. That left me with one of my favorite techniques - an ndebele rope. Well, three of them actually...

I chose three distinct beads -- one that's mostly blue, one that's mostly purple, and a third that's mostly gold -- and created a single strand of ndebele rope for each of them. I puzzled over how to attach the beads the ropes for awhile until I came up with the idea of something that resembles tiny flower petals. I first thought of just making a set of lariats, but then I decided to join the ends of the three ropes, loop them back on themselves, resulting in a big loop.

The beads talked to me today as I finished this piece, telling me how happy they are to be part of this necklace, which is named Carnival in Trinidad (Carnival because that's what Dee calls her beads; and Trinidad because it means "three"). It's great fun to wear, and I even got the seal of approval from the beads' artist! :-)

Carnival in Trinidad, worn asymmetrically

Carnival in Trinidad, with the ndebele ropes braided (for a different look)

These aren't the only pieces I've received from Dee... I have one of her nudibranch bracelets, which doubles as sculpture when I'm not wearing it. And pretty soon I'll have a whole new batch of her Natasha Beads. They've already started talking to me, even though I haven't met them in person yet. I can hardly wait for them to arrive in my mailbox!!!


She doesn't typically list these in her Etsy shop, but I'm sure Dee would make you some if they're saying anything to you. You can't have any of these, though. They're all mine. :-)