Wordless Wednesday (Glass Inspired by Italy)

(I interrupt the Wednesday tour of Tuscany to bring you a timely, Valentine-inspired, mixture of red silk and Millefiori glass--a type of glass inspired by Italy. New work from WillOaks Studio...)

Genesis of a New Direction

First experiment in crocheted silk, incorporating Millefiori (1000 flowers) glass. I must admit, I had Mardi Gras or Carnival on my mind when working on this.

I started going for length right from the beginning--kind of like earlier long bracelets and necklaces on knotted leather--made to wrap and wear different ways.

Pretty simple, but the point is, you just have to start somewhere in exploring, then developing a whole new idea! And I've already taken this two different directions--a bit more complex--to be shared when they are photo ready!

It's been wonderful to be busy filling orders, finishing some special orders and in between, in bits and bobs, inching towards some new ideas.

I can always tell I'm starting to get the itch for Spring when I become obsessed with crocheting. I can hear you all going, "Huh? What are you talking about?" Well, only readers who were around my blog last year, about March, will probably recall the reminiscing I did about the technique of crochet, how it had factored into my girlhood. Some photos of that series are here, but I don't think any of these are even in my Etsy or Artfire shops right now. But that's all OK, there's a whole new crochet series now in progress.....

Last year, my material was waxed linen and this year, it's extra fine silk fiber. Silk threads, actually, that are spun primarily for use in jewelry fabrication. Last year, I was really interested in working towards shapes that had a lot of body, that held their own shapes in a sculptural way. This year, I'm enchanted with how soft silk is, and how beautiful it drapes. Now my main challenge is, the fiber is pretty small, and needs to be smallish in order to thread through the beads....but crocheting with it is pretty challenging. It's fine and needs a small needle, it's slippery and takes some practice keeping the tension right.

But oooohhh, the drape of it, and the possibilities! It's so incredibly strong yet looks so delicate. I didn't have many colors on hand, but did some research over the weekend and tracked down some pretty nice colors. Couple this with my sudden urge to use some brighter colors in glass, pearls and stones, and this is a few of the qualities I'm bringing to my next series of new crocheted neck pieces--that double as multi-wrap bracelets. I'm only sharing one of the first experiments here...but watch for more development in this direction shortly!!