Elegant Earrings the Easy Way

Take a class! That's what I had to do to learn some basics in order to make earrings.  A lady named Linda Breitner, teaches some jewelry making classes at Florida Grande where we are staying, and she had an earring class today for 10.00. She has a website and a shop on Etsy.... That's Linda in the blue tee.    

www.jewelrybylinda.8m.com  and www.jewelryby lindab.etsy.com

She is a very patient teacher. For some reason, I had difficulty following some written directions, even with photos. So she patiently had me and a couple of others keep practicing with head pins and loose beads on how to turn the loops and wrap the wires. I was very inconsistent with my wrapping. First time I tried it, I did it perfectly! The second time I tried it, it was very uneven. But as I practiced, it seemed to get a little easier. I was surprised at how strong the head pin wire was, it was tough to bend with my fingers!

It was really fun! I came home with at least three pairs of earrings that I can honestly say I will wear! Here are two pairs that I made....It doesn't look that hard at all, but it's trickier than you think. There are tools that you need to master, and the positioning of them to make the wires do what you want them to do without breaking them.

I REALLY enjoyed the class today, and am looking forward to making some more jewelry with Linda!

Jewelry Anyone?

I'm on a jewelry kick this week after my second jewelry making class at the Florida Grande RV Park where we are staying for about six weeks...First, I made a chunky necklace and a chunky bracelet...

I enjoyed that so much then I made another bracelet this week!

I'm sure having fun making jewelry! We'll see where my short attention span goes next week! My sister loved her scarf and here she is, wearing it for her 70th birthday! We had an interesting discussion this week on learning how to knit. I told her that in my scarf class there were four non-knitters, and two were lefties! She said my mom, Mildred, or Millie (where we got our blog name from) taught her to knit as if she was a right hander! Now, that's ambidextrous! Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out  how to help the lefty non-knitters in the class, but we worked it out with other students helping...That was one angle I had not figured on! Teaching a left hander to knit!

Lyle in her birthday scarf

See you next week.....

Yarn Shop Ewe-nique Knits in Royal Oak, MI

While visiting my sister for her 70th birthday celebration, she told me about a yarn shop in Royal Oak, a nearby suburb close to where she lives.....It was a wonderful shop, full of gorgeous yarns and a room full of knitters and spinners....It was great!

It was called Ewe-nique Knits and it's on South Lafayette Avenue in Royal Oak, MI... Here's a link to their online website....
                                                                    Ewe-nique Knits

I met the owner and had a very nice conversation with her about knitting, spinning, and traveling full time in an RV........I would highly recommend this shop to anyone visiting in the Detroit area, Royal Oak is very close to the Detroit Zoo.....

Lyle and I had a great tune sharing ideas about crafting, beading while I was visiting her for the weekend. Not only has she made chain pulls for ceiling fans, but she is currently experimenting with key fobs...a longer, beaded key ring chain that you can let the bead part hang out of your purse a bit so you can grab your keys in a hurry, or at least find them more quickly. I love them!

Ruffly Scarves are HOT Right Now!

I'm excited....The RV park has agreed to let me teach a ruffly scarf class and five people have signed up. Woo-hoo! I've made a couple more since my red one...Here's one above in the "blues" colorway...It is impossible to find this scarf yarn! Backordered everywhere online, and local stores stocking the "mesh" scarf yarn are sold out everywhere we go....Some of the yarns used for making these scarves are: Patons Pirouette, Starbella, Rozetti Marina and lots lots more...There is a yarn company out of Turkey called Ice Yarns that ships very quickly, but you have to buy in lots of 4...that really gets expensive if you want several different colors. The class is January 21st. Should be fun!

Although Christmas is over, it's never to late to think about next year..I saw these snowmen on the Ravelry site and fell in love with them. They are from the Mary Maxim company.Wouldn't you know it, the pattern has been discontinued. I contacted the knitter who made them on Ravelry, but she hasn't responded. Wish I was smart enough to figure out how to knit them myself, but I'm relatively new to knitting and haven't a clue how to design them myself.....I went to the Knitting Paradise forum to ask if anybody had the pattern. Someone did, but they don't want to make a copy of the pattern and violate any copyright laws, so it looks like I might not be able to get the pattern and will just have to forget it! Rats!

Got lots of knitting plans for the next few weeks...knitting socks for my youngest daughter, a winter hat to match the  Ava Elongated Scarf pattern from JeriKnits that I knit for my oldest daughter, and a bunch more frilly scarves! Seems like retirement is keeping me busier than when I was working, but I've got such a short attention span, I need all these projects to keep myself out of trouble! :-)

Scarves Galore and More.....

I've been working on frilly scarves...after making one up and showing it to the lady in the RV office at the park we are staying, she promptly bought one! I think I'll make a few more for our next park and see what happens. They are going to have a little craft show, and I'll bring some of my knitted stuff and we'll see if anybody else likes these scarves...They are all the rage in many parts of the country...so popular, the yarn is out of stock everywhere I go...but I have a feeling this will be a passing fashion fad after awhile....Here's a red one I made...It took about three hours. The resulting knitted scarf twists as you make it, which makes the beautiful curly Q look, but then the tape/mesh yarn skein that you are knitting from twists into a tighter and tighter corkscrew as you go. I had to stop often and try to unwind it and relax it so I could knit some more of the scarf..it about drove me nuts! I will have to figure out a way to keep the yarn from twisting so badly...

The yarn comes in many beautiful, variegated colors IF you can find it! I've got some ordered in blues, pinks, and beige...Some of the brands have a little "bling" in them, which would make for a dressier scarf. They are soft, and you can drape them in many flattering ways as they are quite long...I like them, can you tell? :-)

Next week is my sister's birthday...I have made a special present for her...She is celebrating her 70th birthday, a very special birthday, having survived breast cancer twice.  I'm flying in to help her celebrate with many friends and family. She is not wanting any gifts, bless her heart, but I made her something anyway! (So THERE, Sis! XXOO) In lieu of gifts, she is asking for donations to the Ferncare Free Clinic in Ferndale, MI, a VERY worthwhile charity, to which she donates many, many hours each week to help.  My sister is an inspiration to me! Here's the silk scarf I made for her, she likes it! I'll have to get a photo of her wearing it...Happy New Year to everyone!     Jeannie and Lyle