I've made a bit of progress on Andoa since my last post. I've finished the front
and blocked both pieces.
I managed to join the right shoulders last night. You might notice I've lowered the front neckline quite a bit. I can't stand anything close around my neck like turtlenecks and high crew necks and whatnot. I haven't since I had globus hystericus in the mid-90's after an extremely stressful time in my life. It will recur whenever I have a lot of stress. Anyway, back to the sweater, I've lowered it about 7 inches. The neckband will raise it up a bit so it won't be too sexy. I will also be making short sleeves.
Thought I'd tell you about my latest tool craze. I got some of these cord stoppers.
They make wonderful stitch stoppers on circular needles.
These ones will work on needles up to 8mm in diameter.
There are lots of varieties of them in all shapes and sizes. Some have 1 hole, some have 2. I prefer the round ones, but you might like some other kind. I love them. They stay on so much better than the traditional point protectors.
The weather has been very cool the last couple days. Chilly enough that Zoey has been wearing sweaters. It's been in the low 50's but with wind it feels so much colder.
Here is some more Christmas present creations. I made some Chain Row Counters for knitting friends. I ran across this idea on Amazon.com a couple years ago. I decided I wanted to make some this year so I ordered some number beads, and 10mm silver closed rings. I used beads and wire in my stash. Here are the first four. (These pics suck so bad, My apologies.)
I didn't make them fancy because it was the first time. It was not easy for me either. I'm not so good at making loops in wire.
I made 2 markers for each chain (hanging on the last loop). As you can see, the above one has purple beads. One is a pressed glass flower and the other is a carved amethyst bead. The numbers are white glass.
This next one has deep ruby 4mm fire polish crystals.
This one has two pressed glass beads. One is a light green flower, and the other is a green twisted oval.
The fourth one features blue pressed glass flowers.
It took me several hours to make them. I went through quite a few silver t-pins just trying to get decent wire loops made.
After I was done, I made some Printable Boxes to put them in. This is a little hobby I had several years ago and kind of forgot about it after awhile. There are templates both free and for purchase all over the internet. You print them out on 8.5 by 11 inch cardboard with your printer, cut them out, fold in the proper places, and glue or tape together. Now you have a tiny box perfect for a small gift. Here are the boxes I made. If you find this intriguing, google Printable Boxes.
The day after I got these done, someone in the Facebook beading group mentioned a tool called Wire Loop Pliers. I'd never hear of them. Intrigued, I googled. Wish I'd known about it sooner. especially two days sooner. Sigh. 😑
I knew I was going to be making two more chain counters, so I ordered the pliers right away. It arrived a couple days later. Oh. My. God! What a wonderous device.
It makes absolutely perfect loops every time, and cuts the excess wire off to boot! I sat down and whipped out another chain in 15 minutes! So much easier! I made this one for daughter Ruth to stuff in her stocking.
You may notice it's a little fancier. The numbers are silver. I put 4mm Picasso druks in sage green/brown either side of the numbers to dress it up a bit. I used 4 and 6 mm Picasso sage green/brown faceted beads on the markers along with a couple bicone Swarovski crystals. A person could get mighty creative making these.
If you want to know how to make the basic ones like the first four chains, see this tutorial:
