The Adorn Collection & give-away

When it comes to jewellery, I'm a no-frills kinda gal. I like the organic and the hand-made, and I'm about as non-bling as it gets. Recently, my want to make something that isn't for work, something for me, has had me hunting for fresh ideas. Most of the time you won't see me wearing jewellery, as rarely do I find something that's unfussy enough, so making my own is the way to go.

Enter Ribband by Laura Nelkin, from the Adorn Collection. Now, knitting with beads isn't normally my thing but this one worked for me. The pattern is very adaptable and clever in it's simplicity, and in no time at all, all sorts of ideas for working with chunkier beads or buttons were jumping into my head. I like patterns that fill me with ideas.

The e-book includes lots of useful tips for knitting with beads, including how not to stress yourself out by counting every single bead, which was very much appreciated!

From start to finish, including threading the beads, I think it took me 4 hours to make this one, and I pretty much followed the pattern to the letter. You can't argue with something that's that quick to make, huh? It was great de-stress knitting too, perfect TV/movie knitting, and I can definitely see myself making more of these for gifts. 

('scuse the slightly blurry photo - no-one was around to help me take photos of my wrist)

Project details:

Yeah, yeah, it's black. I did try some mink grey Kidsilk Haze from my stash but it didn't work. So I rummaged again and found this black 4ply wool (most likely King Cole Merino Blend 4ply) and went from there.

As I was working from my stash, I didn't have the suggested beads for the 4ply/sock version, but I did have the ones suggested for the lace-weight version, so figured I'd give it a go. Most of them loaded onto the yarn without problem (a few were a bit tight!), and I reckon the pearlescent green works pretty well with the black.

Modifications: clasps aren't really my thing and tend not to have them around, so I worked a fastening similar to that found on friendship bracelets. I cast on fewer stitches, worked an I-cord for roughly 0.75", then picked up sts from the cast-on end to get the right stitch count for the pattern - this forms the loop. Once I was done and all the beads knitted in, I split the stitches in half and worked an I-cord on each set for roughly 3" - these form the ties, with one going through the loop and then tying the pair together to fasten. Simple but effective.

I did block lightly as I had a bit of curling. And before I knew it, it was done. I mean, mine looks a little Emo, but that's OK as I guess I am a little Emo. And it just goes to show how versatile the pattern can be with different bead and yarn combinations, right? I think I fancy trying Beignet next for myself - big circle pendants are totally my thing.

Give-away!

And here's the bonus - Laura has kindly offered a give-away of the Adorn Collection to one lucky commenter! Cool, huh?

It's a digital collection, so please leave your Ravelry name or email in the comment, so we can get the collection to you if you win. Simply leave your comment below, telling us what you fancy making, and I'll select a winner at the weekend. Good luck & happy jewellery making!

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Sunday 2/10/11 - A lucky winner has been selected and this give-away is now closed - thanks for taking the time to enter! The winner is Jane Rogers and your details have been past to the designer so you can receive your e-book. Congratulations!