Focus on Life Week 5 - Where is the heart?

Where do you see the heart?  This is the topic of our Focus in Life  for week 5

Are you kidding?  Twelve days left for the Valentine Day.  Hearts are every where.  You can't miss them if you enter any drug store...the candy isle will attract you like a strong magnet.  Hearts  are on every thing from  linens to love notes.  It's a Hallmark celebration... every item with a heart motif actually screaming BUY ME .

But Sally enthused me to go deeper.


Now I look for heart.  I wanted to knit a sweater for a little girl whose birthday is on the Valentine Day.  So I really wanted to find a pattern with a heart.  I searched it on line and in books and finally I found some thing in a book called The Encyclopedia of Knitting



Here is the pattern if you care.  My project is almost finished.  May be in the next few days  I'll be able to share it with you.

But as I was knitting I was thinking,  can hearts really be seen?   Diving deeper I remembered something that welled up my eyes.  My pattern got blurry.

I'll share that story.

About ten years ago my father came to visit us in USA from India.  He used to wear a woolen shawl.   Some times I used to wrap myself in it.

One such chilly morning he approached me and said, "Oh there it is.  Now why do you have to wear this very one while you have so many of yours?"

I gave it back to him saying " Because it smells...DADDY".

Hmm.

When he left for India I saw him off to the airport, returned to his empty room and found the shawl on top his pillow, neatly folded.

Later, I told him, " You forgot something ... your shawl."  He gave me a cute smile squinting one eye.  I knew he left it for me on purpose.

He died a couple of years  after this.

Some days, when I feel dark and cold and sad, and I don't know why,  I wrap myself with this special Kashmiri shawl and my heart fills up.  I feel abundance of love.  I see hearts everywhere.

Please check out all the other participants who are in this journey with us

Simplicity

Keep it simple - that is all to this blogpost.

Our good friend Tracy  inspired me to write a post on a word or phrase that motivates me, challenges me, that should embrace many aspects of my life like spiritual, emotional, physical, financial and social.  When I closed my eyes to find that one word - the image that came to my mind is a serene, uncomplicated place...nothing too much... just simple.  Yes, the word  is -  "SIMPLICITY".

There is so much clutter around me, so  many things, so many  thoughts, too many lists to get done , that I am exhausted.

I close my eyes.  Take a deep breath and let my self go that serene place.  A  three minutes break and  I feel  energized.

So I decided to embrace this word or the phrase "Keep it simple"  as my core value or goal  for this year.

I'll need to adjust to incorporate this, make some simple changes in habits and I think it will just lead me to the person who I want to be.

I'll do things with love - small things but with great love.  I don't want to feel stressed doing that.  That will be my cue to me  to  take it easy, or even stop , because beyond that it is meaningless.

I will give as much as I can with love, things and lessons that may benefit someone up to the point when I do not feel grumpy and angry and stressed.

If I can  I go back to this core value of keeping things simple,  my everyday tasks may not seem so frightening.

As I was thinking all these my hands were busy making these book marks.

 It is true as the poet Rabindra Nath Tagore says- " It is very simple to be happy but it is very difficult to be simple."

I made several of them indeed.  This very last one is made with peridot and garnet gemstones.

This one is for a couple for their anniversary present.  See, my friend is an August born, so her birth stone is peridot and her significant other is a January born baby, with garnet as his birthstone.  And the mother of pearl heart is to signify their love for each other and my wish - may that love be nourished.

I do not make  stamped word jewelry so I hope my jewelry speaks these thoughts ...perhaps whisper to the recipient ...then I'll know my job was well done.

Here is my other friends' posts who have also decided to take this Wellness Words Challenge  journey.

http://makebraceletsblog.com/2013/01/05/inspire-change-wellness-words-jewelry-challenge/

acreativeforce.blogspot.com alankarshilpa.blogspot.com allprettythings.ca anniamaebisuteria.blogspot.com.es/ apolymerpenchant.com beadlolabead.blogspot.com/ beadrecipes.wordpress.com centsations.wordpress.com clay-space.com/ creativeatelier.net elliesbijoux.com emakdesigns.com erinsiegel.com etsy.com/shop/shamaen facebook.com/hotsouthernmessdesigns facebook.com/soquilidesigns fairiesmarket.blogspot.com firstimpressiondesign.blogspot.com gemsbyjudy.com glasstastreasures.blogspot.com handcraftedserenity.blogspot.com facebook.com/azuresunshines facebook.com/whdalaska jeanetteblix.com kimmykats.com kymhunterdesigns.blogspot.com lisayangjewelry.com macmillanmarie.blogspot.com makebraceletsblog.com miabellasoul.com misheldesigns.com mycreativechallenge.blogspot.com noseycritters.blogspot.com pixiloo.blogspot.com sandivolpe.com sharonsjewelrygarden.blogspot.com shaterra.etsy.com shinylittlethings.blogspot.com shymedesign.se shymessmycken.blogspot.se simpleearthcreations.com soultosubstance.com suebeads.com sunshinebliss.com sweetbeadstudio.com sweetwillowdesigns.blogspot.com thebeadingyogini.com thestudiosublime.com treasures-found.blogspot.com twitter.com/ldymlivelystone vault31.blogspot.com veradesigns.blogspot.com

How to make a knitted wire Valentine heart - A Free Knitted Wire Jewelry Pattern

How do you make knitted wire jewelry?  Some of my jewelry making friends asked.

 So I decided to show what I know in this post.

I love to knit and I love to make jewelry using quality gemstones and all kinds of beads.  So one Christmas when I got a book about knitting with wire, I just took off.  I got hooked into making knitted wire jewelry.

 There are several good books on this topic but this was the first book that inspired me.   I am not any affiliate of this author or amazon. No monetary gain,   I mention it because I have it and learned from it.

As Joyce Goodman says,  it's a good idea to start with wooden double point needles and coated copper wire, like the artistic wire. Later,  I have experimented with all kinds of wire, sterling silver, copper, and gold filled wire and now I like metal double point needles better than the wooden ones.

 For knitted wire designs all you need to know is - how to cast on, knit, purl and bind off.

Knitting with wire is a little different from knitting with yarn in the sense that  the properties of yarn and wire are different.  Wire knitting may not feel as soft, smooth and quick like knitting with yarn.  There is a difference in  muscle movement and it may feel tedious at least in the beginning.

But if you like the lacy, dainty filigree look of the knitted wire  jewelry, you'll get hooked.

Enough talking, now I'll show how i knit with wire.

Materials needed:

*Knitting needles size 4 US,  in this particular one- I used double point ones and metal.

*Wire -   28g or 30 g artistic silver tone wire.  I have also used sterling silver and gold filled wire in some projects but not thinner than 30g.  It tends to kink and break.

*Tiny 2 mm garnet gemstone beads

* One hessonite garnet briolette 6 mm

* Flush cutter

Procedure:

1. String 26 garnet beads in the wire. Put the wire  roll in a zip loc bag

Note - here I have the round nose and the chain nose pliers too because I extended this project to making a book mark.  For making the pendant you may not need them.

2. Cast on 6 stitches.

3. Next row knit with beads, meaning slide one bead, knit. Slide one bead, knit - all 6 stitches.


4. Next row- just knit without beads.

5. Next row - Knit with bead like row 2  ( You may knit randomly, meaning skipping a bead in some stitches and so on to give it a free form look if you want ).  

6. Next row - knit without beads.  Every now and then stretch the knitted piece ( or rather block it )

7. Go  on in this fashion until all the beads are gone,  knit the last bead  ( that is the briolette.)

8.  Bind off. Cut the wire from the knitted piece.

9. Now with your fingers  give this a heart shape.  Here comes the fun part knitting with wire.  You can sculpt the piece as you like because wire gives you that freedom that yarn can not.

Voila! Your knitted wire jewelry pendant is done.

10.  Depending on what you make,  you have to think about your finishing.  Add a jump ring to make it a pendant or add some beads like I did here,  to make it a book mark

Artists that inspire me :

Ruth Asawa. Check her work in The De Young  Museum  in San Francisco.

Create Art

Create Art is our topic for the Week 4 of our journey of 52 pictures with Focus on Life

Sally is so right - " There is no wrong way to be creative."  True.

When I see a young four year old child paint,  I see he is totally in to the process, some times even oblivious of the finished product.  He doesn't  care if his painting is coveted  in  art galleries.

 That happen as we grow old.

We become critical of our production.  We become our worst critique. Self criticism slowly creeps on  and  kills the artist child in us.

But to many people it is as vital as food.  Art is needed to nourish the soul.

I have this quote framed  and I  kept it  on my jewelry making table.

Yet, I think there needs to be a fine balance so that I can improve and  learn new things and sharpen my skill every day.  This week I plan to make some knitted valentine hearts with garnet and amethyst. Some thing like this but each one should be different.

 I am trying to become more organized.

I love to make jewelry but the harder part is selling them. And with out selling them how can I create more?  How'd I buy the raw materials?

Some times I feel like this too.

Then I pick up myself up and remind :

Please check all the other bloggers' posts and see what they are writing  about this topic -  CREATE ART

Old Coin Jewelry – One quarter anna – from the British Raj – India 1835

Yesterday I had a strange experience, an adventure you may say.  I was going through some old suitcases and in one of them I found old family pictures, letters and many memorabilia.

You know how you lose track of time on those situations,  on those walks down the memory lanes.   I came across a piece of cotton handkerchief, all bundled up and knotted, seemed like it contained some thing, like coins.

I open up the knot and inside I found many  old coins indeed, from all over the world.  I am fascinated with old  coins.  So much so that I took several tutorials to learn how to wrap coins.  I’ll even show you some of my samples.

Coin jewelry

But this one is  a copper coin, quite dirty and old.  It is from India and after rubbing a bit I see the year marks 1835.

I get goose bumps.  It is a rare quarter of an anna.  One side there is a design of leaves; the other side has the face of the Empress.

Holding this quarter of an anna, which was called, a pice,  in those days, I was feeling like I am holding an eternity in  the palm of my hand.

This well circulated piece has seen so much until it was stuck in that suitcase.  I have no idea how it ended up there.  It has seen so much of history.

India was under the British Raj then,  I suppose.  This coin was perhaps minted in Calcutta at the latest in  December 1835. Right after that there was  the coin strike due to lack of copper. 

This one  has pure copper.  This is the time period when the East India Company is slowly capturing India, more than just trading. It had started the process of breaking the back bone of her culture. The British has started poisoning the spirit of the country

Why I say that?  Why am I such bitter?  Here is the quote from Lord Mc Cauley’s speech of Feb 2, 1835 to the British Parliament:

Lord McCauley in his speech of Feb 2, 1835, British Parliament

"I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation".

There were no beggars in the street said the Lord.

 I look at my coin again.  If it could talk it would have started sobbing by now. It would babble about   how many beggars and thieves it had seen since then, how many rich, generous, people it had also come across and how it landed to our family.

 Who was this last person?  When did the quarter of an anna become obsolete? 

I research what it is worth today.  I find its monetary value any where from $10 to $250,   perhaps even more.  I don’t know.

 What about its real value?  What could a pice buy then?  I have no proof to link but I remember a childhood poem in Bengali, my mother tongue.  Translating it, it would sound like:

How on earth did you spend all that oil-  a pice worth of oil?

Your beard, my foot, then on our baby boy

  weddings of the  daughter and son
seven nights there were lights and the band,
after that you ask what I did with that oil?  a pice worth of oil?

Well,  I decided not to let it go, whatever its value be   I decided to make it beautiful and then give it to some one close who will fully appreciate it.

 I do have many other coins that I am going to wrap soon and take to my etsy shop.

Right now I have only one from Thailand

It's about TIME

Time is in your hand, but is it really?

From the morning to night I feel like I am running against time and can never catch up.

I have all the tools, like my smart phone ( which makes me feel unsmart many times) and I feel instead of having this instrument in my hand,  it rather has me in its!

For example,  I am all the time at its mercy for answering phone calls and text messaging, taking pictures and sending, staying up to date with all my social networks and what not.  I was not like this.  If people did not get me when they called ( in the times when there was no answering machines), they'd wait.   I did not  have to be available all the time even when I am driving.

But these days I have become like this.  I am checking my e mails a million time and I feel some days nothing is done.

Well, this is when I console myself  with a cup of hot coco or just sit straight and take a deep breath.

  This is the key.  I remind myself of a  Time Management class I had taken a couple of years ago.

Our leader gave us a cup, some pebbles or large beads  and some sand or seed beads.  She asked us to fill the cup.  Everything has to fit.

 I found that when I poured the pebbles or  large beads first and then poured the seed beads every thing fitted but if I'd  try to start with the seed beads first and then the large beads, it did  not work.

The same thing happens in life, in  my daily life.

 Prioritize what is important .

 This new year I sat down and wrote down what is important to me in life, in my jewelry business and now I made a concrete  plan  how I want to achieve it.  When I am precise and to the point about the what, when how aspects of  the plan,  it made it easier for me to put the details on a daily and weekly basis.  These are like  my big beads .  Checking e mails and keeping in touch with   Face book and Twitter, I consider are the seed beads.  They have to go but after the big beads.

Planning in 90 minutes slots

I had read this is  in some time management blog ( I forgot the main source now, sorry I can't give the credit to the writer),  now  I had a chance to incorporate that recently and found that it is highly effective.  Twice a week I take care of my grand  baby who sleeps for about 90 minutes at a stretch
 ( plus - minus of course).  Her naps are my time to write.  I think this time frame and the specific topic  keep me focused.  This works much better than the other days when I have the whole day to myself.

The other days are for making jewelry, going to post office and bank, taking pictures and uploading in Etsy etc along with running the house.

My goal is to have my week more specific with these activities instead of keeping a whatever-whenever attitude.

Multi tasking:  Is it good or bad?

How about doing two or more things at a time?  Do I do it?  Yes.  For example I can knit easy designs while watching T.V. or fold my laundry while chatting with a friend ( in speaker phone  of course) but can I do an intricate wire work and also watch a movie?  No I can't.  Or, listen to an audio book and also follow a tutorial that I have recently down loaded?  No I can't.  I make mistakes in both.  I miss some part of the story and miss some important things in the tutorial.

I thought it was my short coming until I watched a program in the PBS  about - how our brain works and then came across this article.   So I decided to give my full attention to things I consider important, like the stories  my little friend says about her day at school and baking a special cake.


I like to give my 100%.

And that includes the jewelry I make and sell. 

This is out WEEK 3's topic inspired by Sally's blog project.  Please check out all the other bloggers posts too  about Time .

The Bleeding Heart - a knitted bracelet in red

Here is a bracelet knitted with memories and thanks.

This blog is about that... memories and thanks.

It is about  the memory of  a person who is important in my life.

Just one person?  Hmmm.

The idea came from our dear friend Lori Anderson who organizes  bead soup parties each year and we wait anxiously to be part of it.

We came to know from her blog about the sad story about Marianna, who was   just another interested  bead loving party hopper like us,  but could not make it at the end.  This blog is to  honor her and the friendship we all share.

The healing heart - a knitted bracelet with all shades of red

Marianna loved red.  As I was fiddling with my beads and the thoughts about memories and friendships, many faces were   coming to me.  Some of them have passed away, like my mom's, who also loved red, and some friends' whom I have never seen but met in the virtual web land, one of them is  Lori Anderson.

This blog is dedicated to them, who have given me so much in life.

As I knit the red  beads-  scarlet, sienna and crimson, all the shades of red in the grey C lon yarn I feel a strange feeling...how special art is,  and how it heals.  I remember the saying -
 "Art washes away the dirt from our  every day life"- Picasso.

About this piece- I got the central  idea from Earthfaire, even though I have used different shades of beads  They have the kit too, and it is quite lovely.  if you want to know more.

 I like to knit and have tried jewelry pieces with knitted wire style before .  This one is with yarn. This is my  first mixed media venture.

Please visit all the other blogs that are taking part honoring memories and friendship.