My First Wire Knit, My First Gray

Okay, so I lied about the next post being my own design. That design just got picked up so you'll see it soon. But I do have something really new, my first wire knit! It's from the Twist and Loop book by Annie Modesitt. This book has so many beautiful designs, and since I had been wanting to work with beads anyway, I decided I'd give it a go. The one that really caught my eye was this one:



Gorgeous, huh? I needed all these supplies to start that I didn't have, and wire can be kinda pricey. But over the course of a couple of weeks I picked stuff up here and there and in fact to do this particular project all I needed were the beads, the wire, and one of those round nose plier type tools. In truth for that last I could have just used scissors but the tool was a 3-in-1 and it was only $5 at Walmart. I know, Walmart, it's evil, but I was in Calgary with a couple hours to kill before my flight back so I stopped there because it wasn't too far from the airport. (I went to Banff National Park for a few days, absolutely beautiful, pics at the bottom of this post). I also got the beads at Walmart. They didn't have velvet ribbon, but fortunately I had some fancy ribbon in the right color from a project I never began. Walmart didn't have wire in the right gauge, but I got some at Boca Loca Beads in Indianapolis when I went to pick my bunny up from the bunnysitters. I needed much less than the pattern called for. It called for 50 yards of wire, but I didn't even use 2/3 of a 40 yard spool. And since my yo eyelets didn't come out as big as in the book, I couldn't make a wide ribbon lie flat like in the picture, so I made it wave up and down. Anyway, the final result doesn't look a whole lot like the book's, but I like it.

From the front:


From the back:


Not another headless knitting photo:


While working with the beads I kept thinking of my grandmother's house. You know, this color scheme and the simple fact that they're beads looks very 70's-ish and her house always looked/looks 70s-ish. I think the plastic furniture covers are the same ones from when I was kid. You know the ones I'm talking about, you sit on them and your thighs get all sweaty and stick to the plastic. The ones that act as dual protection against food spills and incontinence. Yeah, those. All the same, I think it's beautiful, even if my wire knitting is not very neat.

In other news, I've found my first two gray hairs. Well, the first two on my head at any rate, but we won't go there to protect the tender minds of the kiddies. It was a sad day when I saw the first. It was a young one, just coming in, only about 2 inches long. I thought it was lint at first, but it wouldn't come out! And can you believe the very next day I found another, also very young, just about 2 inches away. Dang, y'all, dang. Just when me and my hair were getting on good terms, it has to go and pull this bs on me. Damn, the betrayal! I know, Readers, that you are thinking that it's not the hair's fault but has something to do with me getting older and is just another symptom of this, like my raging uterus. That's just like you, always taking their side. Fine, be that way. But next time you want a free pattern ask my hair to write it for you! Mm hmm, now everybody's my friend. (I swear I'm not drunk. But for real, been wearing a wash and go recently and I'm able to do it w/o my hair becoming a matted tangled mass because of the braided roots technique, so email me if you want more details).

And finally, the promised pics of Banff National Park. It was gorgeous. Lakes in valleys surrounded by pine forests surrounded by glacier-capped mountains. I even saw a bear on the side of the road. Ate all fancy at Eden at the Rimrock Resort (5 courses and wine pairing for each course!), rode horses, it was fantastic.

Driving on the Ice Fields Parkway


Riding horses on mountain trail near Lake Louise.


Peyto Lake and Glacier:


Peyto Lake


View from hotel


Standing on rapidly receding glacier. In another 30-50 years, there won't be any here.


Til next time, Y'all.