Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Day 19- A Little Braided Bracelet


3/18/14

Today's undertaking was small, but a finished piece nonetheless. I spent the evening at my grandmothers house and brought yarn and beads with me, intending to make a braided bracelet and add beads. Once I got situated to work, I realized I had needles but no thread to sew in beads, and they were far too small to string on yarn. My new challenge was to make something interesting from the yarn alone. 

I started with the loop for the clasp- I knew I would be using a button I brought as the closure so I created a loop that I wrapped with yarn and knotted to start the braid. 



In every piece I make I attempt to learn something or try a new technique, so even with tonight's simple project I decided to try doing a crossover braid which was something I'd never tried before. I created two parallel braids and switched a group of strings from each to give the appearance of a crossover. 


I braided the two small braids into one fat braid for the middle, and then brought them back to two small braids and knotted off the end of the bracelet. Adding the button neatly at the end was the biggest challenge, and I chose to do a fringe because I thought it added a little flair. When it's on the wrist I'm not sure it lies right, though. It may need to be stitched in the right direction. I ended up tying it off in a knot to keep it smooth. 


It definitely isn't my most exciting piece, but I finished a piece today and learned something new, so I would say it was definitely a successful project. 
Back home tomorrow to oodles of eager materials! 

Xo, 
Arielle