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Where creativity & imagination go hand-in-hand... |
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Monthly Newsletter June 2012 |
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Dear Knitters and Kumihimo-ists! | |
Greetings!
This past month has been crazy, hectic and fun. I have had a blast creating 4th of July Necklace Kits. For those of you that have been requesting them, I hope they fit the bill!
I have also put together another new kit, Focal Bead Necklace Kit, and this one is a must. The technique is one that you will want in your Kumihimo "toolbox". The Focal Beads in this first series of kits are gorgeous Furnace Glass Beads that were hand-picked at a show. Check out these One-of-a-Kind kits. Try them out!
I am also excited to share....
CNCH (Conference of Northern California Handweavers) has announced Textile Games 2013 to be held May 31, June 1 & 2 , 2013 at the Resort at Squaw Creek, Lake Tahoe. I am very excited to be teaching 3 Kumihimo mini-workshops (each 3 hours). A beautiful time of the year combined with a one of Tahoe's most exquisite resorts, the CNCH conference is sure to be a an event you don't want to miss.
Our next Truckee Kumihimo night is scheduled for Tuesday, June 17, 6:30 ish. With such beautiful weather, we might be able to sit on the back deck.
Again, I thank all of you for your amazing, generous and continued support. I appreciate all of you and enjoy the emails and phone calls. I am usually around and I am happy to help you!
Happy Warm Weather,
Karen
P.S. Got something you want to share? Send me an email. I am looking for more Kumihimo Artists for our showcase. Email Karen
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Furnace Glass Focal Bead Necklace Kits | |
"Starting in the Middle"
 This is a fabulous technique to have in your Kumihimo "tool box". When you want to use a focal bead, whether you are making a beaded necklace or a cord only necklace, sometimes the hole in the focal bead is too small to pass the finished braid. With this technique, you actually start with your focal bead in the middle and braid from the middle and work your way out to each end. You'll be braiding half the necklace at a time. As long as the unbraided cords will pass through the middle of your focal bead, you can use this technique. In this kit the beaded section is 11 1/2 " and depending on the length of the "tails" the necklace can be as short or as long as you like. I like this necklace at 18". It's up to you!
Kits include:
C-Lon, 5mm All in One Magnetic End Caps, Furnace Glass Focal Bead, 4 tubes 6/0 Toho or Miyuki seed beads, instructions with photographs.
You need:
Kumihimo Disk, 9 bobbins, scissors, tape measure, heavy duty thread, needle and glue like Weldbond.
You should know:
Kumihimo round braid sequence and how to drop beads.
Kits are one-of-a-kind. Click this link to view all 12 Furnace Glass Focal Bead Kits.These are special! |
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NEW NOTIONS.... |
New! 5mm All in One Magnetic End Cap
Just a tad bigger than the 4mm and a tad smaller than the 6mm. A really nice size to have on hand. I have tried it out in silver-color and I love it. The Gold-color is due to arrive in a week! The 5mm size is the perfect size for 8 ends of C-Lon Tex 400.
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Kumihimo "Artist" Showcase - Irene York | |
Summerlicious!
This months "Artist of the Month" is my lovely mother, Irene York
When I was visiting in April, mom pulled out her gorgeous stash of Kumihimo. In particular, I loved this bracelet and necklace. The 12 strand ridged spiral looks great and there are so many things one can do with it.
She used Perle Cotton in teal and green and used the 12 strand ridged spiral pattern and then added the 6/0 Seed Beads. The 12 strand Ridged Spiral is alot of fun but make sure you read the instructions to get the braid sequence right!
12 Strands, 2 Colors :
Color A = 8 strands (Teal) "Main Color" (red in diagram) Color B = 4 strands (Green) "Ridge" (blue in diagram)
Beads: 6/0 TOHO Seed Beads strung on the "Ridge" strands. Measuring:
For Color A, determine the desired finished length, double that and then add 4 to 5 inches. Ridge strands (B) are 2 times longer than (A)!
Set-Up: As shown on disk with Color A in 6 & 7, 9 & 10, 22 & 23, 25 & 26 and Color B in 32 & 1 and 16 & 17.
Movement: 26 to 5, 7 to 24, 23 to 8, 10 to 21, 17 to 31, 1 to 15 and so forth.
Have fun! P.S. If you go back in the Newsletter Archives to July 2011, you'll find Mimi Hook's 4th of July 12 strand Ridged Spiral Necklace in Red, White and Blue. She added Red beads to the ridge and it looks great! |
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Kumihimo Tip #12 | |
ALWAYS ENJOY WHAT YOU ARE DOING...."Life should not be a jo urney to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways- Kumihimo Disk in one hand, bright colored beads in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "Whoa, what a ride!"
Take pleasure in the small things, have fun creating, try new things, make a mess while you're doing it, don't make up excuses, JUST HAVE FUN! |
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WHAT A KNIT ! Newsletter Archives |
For those of you that are new to What A Knit, you'll find some good info in the archived newsletters. All Newsletters 2011 If you have any friends that might be interested in receiving this newsletter, make sure you forward them a copy. Click this link to |
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Shopping |
I have 5 "Kumihimo Shops" to meet all of your Kumihimo needs. All orders are through PayPal (or use the credit card option) and I ship orders via USPS First Class Mail. This has been amazingly reliable and incredibly fast. Most orders are shipped the same day I receive them.
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