bodner041

When my Lily of the Valley first bloomed I made this necklace to celebrate the arrival of High Spring. Here's the necklace on a mannequin to give you an idea of the dimensions. The necklace is large and makes a big visual statement, but because I crocheted it with fine threads, it's actually very lightweight. I'm fond of using French embroidery floss for my fiber art jewelry because it has a beautiful sheen and comes in an almost limitless number of colors. Today I was delighted to see that the flowers are still blooming. This is unusual for Lily of the Valley which generally only lasts a short time in the garden. I'm assuming that the cold weather has lengthened their lifespan. This picture shows them just after a rainstorm last week. I like the sparkly water on the sturdy leaves of these very delicate looking flowers. These are the flowers I picked this morning. Not only do they look like little ivory bells, but they also smell so intensely sweet that the whole room i...

As promised, I have my Pink Tulip Baroque Crocheted Cuff Bracelet to show now. This is how the tulips looked in the garden last week. When I cut some and put them in a vase, they opened out to over 7 inches in diameter. That gave me a chance to analyze the coloration more which led to the cuff itself.   The crochet of these cuffs is so detailed that I didn't want to have any visible closure. Instead I used a tiny snap to securely hold the bracelet together. Here's what the fastener side of the cuff looks like. This smooth closure is very comfortable to wear and easy to fasten too.  I've been experimenting with Photoshop to join the cuffs and their floral inspiration. The next photo is an example of my playing around with Photoshop.  Many of my friends on Facebook have expressed an interest in my making a pattern/tutorial for these cuffs.  In the meantime, and for those who don't crochet themselves, the cuff is available in my Etsy shop here . I'd be happy to hea...

I've been working on a series of Baroque cuff bracelets inspired by the amazing tulips blooming in my garden this spring. I went a little wild with the plant catalogs last fall and am now reaping the benefit of my indulgence in floral fantasy. Some of these tulips are just amazing. Their size and colors are a feast for the eyes. Here's a sampling from my garden this week: This is a close up of the gorgeous yellow, red and green Parrot tulips: As they open up, they become more flamboyant looking! Here are the giant red tulips with touches of yellow on them:  As these flowers were coming into bloom, I was working on my thread crocheted cuff bracelets. I use fine French cotton threads to make them and a very tiny hook. At least 4 different colors and several stitch textures are incorporated into each bracelet. The intricate detail of these bracelets is reminiscent of the decorative Baroque style in the arts of the 17th and 18th centuries characterized by ornate detail. Think of th...

Perhaps it's because I was an English teacher, or perhaps because I spent some career time doing technical writing for a school district, but it takes me so long to get my pattern PDFs to look satisfactory to me. I'm a stickler for details and keep editing and editing! This is my latest pattern which is now available here . I'll be adding it to my Craftsy shop and other places soon. This Striped Baby Sweater and Hat Set is sized for newborn babies. It's made with sock yarn. There are many things I love about using sock yarn for babies. It comes in gorgeous colors, is available in great wool blends, is machine washable, is soft and lovely next to baby skin, and is generally fairly inexpensive. The yarn used in this sweater set was a vintage Kroy sock yarn with a higher proportion of wool and more yardage than the newer Kroy sock yarns. The pattern works with any sock yarn though. Picture this made in many bright crayon colored stripes, or in muted pastels. If you use one...

Those of you who know me know that I'm very active online. I can be found at the following places in addition to here at my blog: http://www.KnittingGuru.com http://www.BurryBabies.com http://www.KnittingGuru.etsy.com http://www.BurryBabies.etsy.com http://www.KnittingGuru.artfire.com http://www.facebook.com/KnittingGuru http://www.twitter.com/KnittingGuru http://www.twitter.com/BurryBabies http://www.pinterest.com/KnittingGuru http://www.flickr.com/KnittingGuru http://www.flickr.com/BurryBabies http://www.ravelry.com/TheKnittingGuru So why am I so derelict in writing in my blog??? Today, I finally finished a new knitting pattern PDF and I thought I'd motivate my inner blogger by posting the pattern here. It's one of the many patterns for which I have photos and instructions written out, but which I haven't made into PDFs yet. My many friends at Facebook keep asking me to get this done, so it's their motivational messages that have gotten me to do this one and to bl...

I love to make fiber jewelry using fine cotton threads and sometimes beads too. Each piece is one of a kind for the simple reason that writing out the pattern would be much too time consuming. Even more importantly, these works take shape as I crochet and having to stop to write down what I'm doing frequently would interrupt the creative process and the flow of my work. Since this blog's reason for being is to take you on a trip inside the mind of a knitwear designer, I though it might be interesting to show a work in progress along with a picture of what inspired the piece. This view from my window was taken this morning. We've had an awful lot of snow this winter, but I had a suspicion it wasn't over yet. I really hate the way it collects on the sidewalks and turns black and icy or mushy, but when the snow is fresh, and especially when it's on tree branches, I just love it. To me it looks like lace. I'd been thinking about making a necklace to show this and ha...

On my website - http://www.KnittingGuru.com - I have a section called "Ask the Guru". People send me knitting/crochet questions and I answer try to help clarify things for them. I received an interesting question today and thought it might be interesting to show it and my answer. Ask the Guru - Question Hi, I have this pattern for a knitted flower for a hat. The instructions are a little confusing Co 79sts 1st row; Purl 2nd row; K2, *k1, slip this st back onto left needle, lift the next 8 sts on left needle over this st and off the needle, (yfwd) twice, Then knit the first stitch again, k2. rep from * to end.     ( This is where I am confused, I did the lift the next 8 sts on the left needle over this st and off the needle. I understand the yfwd twice, but the knit the first stitch again?? I wasn't sure what that meant. then k2.rep from * to end.?? I don't usually have a problem with patterns ,but for some reason, I can't get this. Can you help me?) 3rd...