New Necklace

I finished my kumihimo necklace last night, including the assembly! It was a great deal of fun to braid, and I think I only missed one bead. Quite a few of the beads wanted to hide in the center of the braid, but I managed to tease them out, there is just one place there should have been a bead and there isn't...

To add the clasp, you crazy glue the findings on to the end of the braid. I dry fit the ends into the cups, and they fit (barely), but I hadn't realized how difficult it would be to do the same thing with the crazy glue oozing out. I just about glued my finger to the necklace! I still have to do a little trimming (that part is strategically hidden in the picture below) but it is DONE!

There are 12 strands of a chenille yarn and 4 strands of metallic thread with beads. I have another very similar kit (the colors are just a bit different) so you should be seeing that one soon too.

I had hoped to be able to show you my floor doily. I bought 3 skeins of a chunky yarn, and crocheted them up in an afternoon, but needed a little more for the border. So I bought another skein on Wednesday and added that yesterday. I had so much left from that skein that I decided to go for another round on the doily, and only got 1/2 way around, so now I need to buy another skein. I promise this is the last one, though! I think it will turn out pretty cool.

Autumn Pouch

I started this pouch before the black and white one, but didn't finish it until yesterday. (Please forgive the extra little thread around the top. I am trying to train the petals to droop down. If it does not work I will have to put in a little invisible stitch to keep them folded down.) I like the colors of this pouch, but not the fabric. It is supposed to be a silk fabric, but the store I was in didn't carry silk, so I found this shiny substitute. It looks nice, but doesn't handle nearly as nice, and doesn't feel as nice either.

I love the tassel! C helped me pick out the beads (I may have shown the tassel earlier), but it looks really rich. The kumihimo braids turned out very rich too.

The leaves are appliqued by machine, with just a straight stitch.

I got out one of the kumihimo kits I picked up at the Midwest Stitching Expo last month. The kit is very complete, with a new braiding disk, chenille fiber, and bobbins to keep the fibers under control. Each strand is more than twice as long as anything I have braided before, and having the fibers on bobbins is making a world of difference.

I don't know if you can see, but 4 of the 12 strands are metallic, with beads. It is forming a very pretty and interesting spiral; I hope to get better pictures of the braid itself when it is done. I am not as sure about the chenille, but I will be working with beads again! I do have another kit with both chenille and beads, so if I do something different, it will be after that.