Movies and Holiday Boutique Mayhem

Ok. I have to say it. Harold and Maude is possibly the best movie ever made. Well, at least right up there in the top 5. It was on last night and even though I've seen it several dozen times before, I still stopped and watched it. And still laughed and got choked up and smiled and sang along and felt that the world would be a better place if everyone was more like Harold and Maude.

Anyone ever seen the black and white autobiographical TV movie Ruth Gordon wrote and played herself in the stage version? I know it was based on her play: Years Ago and apparently is was done by the Ford Theatre Hour. If you can find it: Highly recommended for any fan of Ruth's. You know, it would be her birthday tomorrow...

So, yep.

Movie talk today.

Oh, and I'll be setting up a table in the Eagle Valley Firehouse for the Ladies Auxillary Art and Crafts in the Valley on Sunday. Open to the punters from 10am to 4pm and the ladies will be selling baked good and refreshments... Handcrafted stuff only so it should be a good time.

Got a bunch of new rings and a brand new earring design I will have three pairs of (not quite finished so maybe I'll get the pictures up tomorrow, maybe you'll have to wait until next week...). The new earring design is wire that I wove on a spool with beads on them... I know, tells you nothing really. Well, you'll just have to make the effort on Sunday, if you're close enough, to get over to 14 Scott Mine Road in Tuxedo, NY between 10am & 4pm if you want to see them and maybe get a pair for yourself!

This weekend there will be these three water color paintings by Phil necklaces at Riverwinds Gallery:







Yes. If you read my blog, you've seen the first two before; but the last one is totally new! And yes that first one is the one that was supposed to be auctioned off for the scholarship fund... what can I say. I wasn't able to be there and apparently the weather kept far too many people away... or something. Now it's going to be at Riverwinds. So you can go try it on and buy it there... if you want. And you're close enough to get over to Beacon. You can try on and buy the other ones too... Though, you could have bought them from me for less if you were at Squish last weekend...

Wire Knitting on a Spool

So, if anyone is thinking about buying the book: Wire Knitting... on a spool by Sharon Hessoun, DON'T DO IT! It's a total waste of money and time... unless you want to get so frustrated that you feel like ripping the book in half! Seriously. I came THIS close every time I tried to follow the instructions. And I'm pretty good at figuring things out from books. Almost all the bead weaving techniques I know I learned from books.

Anyway... I got this book with a knitting spool and, even though it's supposed to be for people who've neither knitted or worked with wire, there are almost no illustrations and the actual photos are blurry. Plus, it's $20 for a book that looks like it was put together at Kinkos! Plastic binding through square punch holes and all.

I wasn't very impressed when I got the book but thought I'd give it a shot anyway. I picked it up and started and got frustrated and put it away (for a couple months before trying again) several times over the last 8 months. After about 6 tries to start learning how to do this technique, using the written instructions (that mostly read like jibberish), I once more restrained myself from flinging everything and thought back to when I was 12 - the last time I knitted or crocheted - and finally just figured it out on my own. After a lot of deep breathing.

To be fair, the first couple illustrations make it possible to follow the written directions, but that's just for wrapping the wire on the spool to begin with. After that, there are no illustrations and the written directions make absolutely no sense. Very annoying.

So, I finally figured it out on my own and knitted a few lengths of tubey whatsits and now I have my first necklace using wire knitting (on a spool):

Thanks again to Phil for the watercolor. It's painted to look like stained glass. But you knew that, right?! Oh, and there's some vintage beads and little brass flower links; Quartz, (reconstituted) Larimar, Goshenite, Peridot, and Peruvian Pink Opal beads; and all the wire is actually Gold Fill. [I grabbed the wrong spool for practicing and didn't realize it til I got home and saw the Brass spool sitting there. Kind of hard to tell the difference when the wire is that small, unless there's really good lighting. Good thing I didn't screw it up too much...]

So, whatya think?

I did another couple of banana sections (they really do look like it, only holey and in wire) with beads on them. Still working out the design and bits for using them. Then I figured out I could use wire AND thread. So I did a couple with some Fiber Artist thready stuff. That was actually really hard. I still need some thinking for the design and bits for those too. I'll post pics when I figure the other two out and get them finished up as well.

In case you've just fallen in love with it... I sent an e-mail to Riverwinds to see if they want to add it to my other h2o painting necklaces they have. Just waiting to hear if they want to carry it in the Gallery or not. If so, you can run over and get it there next week. Of course, if you just can't live without it and need it RIGHT now, let me know that (you just have to have it) and I'll make sure you get it. Right now.

Ok.

Back to the book.

I actually did some serious research before I ordered it and only got it because it seemed to be the only one of it's kind. If anyone knows of another wire spool knitting book out there for sale, please, let me know. I'd like to see it but, I'm actually thinking that after a couple months of working on my technique with this, that I'll have Phil take pics while I'm doing it and make my own book. Apparently, if I take it to Kinkos for "publishing", I can still sell it for $20 each, so I might as well give it a shot. Right?

Let me know if you want to reserve your copy now, I think I'll have it finished by Spring. Just leave me a message and I'll put one aside for you. Actually, I'll probably do it as a pdf, buy it online version first. Then, I guess, I'll shop it around to some instructional craft type publishing houses for printing. Since it's said that anything's possible, that means there's always a chance I can get it published by a real publisher too. Right?

You can start crossing fingers and toes for that outcome once I get the online version up. Talk to you more about it then.