How to Crochet Floral Jewelry

My flower garden is a great joy and one of the major sources of inspiration for my fiber art jewelry as well as my knitted and crocheted accessories. Each of my pieces begins with an image. In the case of this necklace, the image was of the humble morning glory. I'd like to invite you to share in my design process for making this piece.

Once the image is determined, I gather my materials: *crochet hooks *threads in cotton, bamboo and silk *beads and other findings. I then experiment with shapes. I'm not seeking to duplicate nature, but to interpret it in order to design versatile wearable art. The Morning Glory may be worn as a long lariat, a doubled and twisted choker, and even as a dainty looking headband. This is made with fine threads, but it's crocheted so tightly that it's very durable and even hand washable to last for many years.

Many people view morning glories as weeds because they're so invasive. I go after them in my garden too, but they're so lovely that I wanted to preserve them in this necklace. You can find my Morning Glory Lariat / Choker / Headband in my Etsy shop. To see all of my current Fiber Art Jewelry please click here.  I'd be glad to speak with you about any questions you may have about this work. Just comment below to begin the discussion.

Kudos for Craftsy from the KnittingGuru!

I've been selling my patterns for years, but when I decided to open a pattern page on Craftsy.com the process became much more gratifying. The site is well organized and so beautiful to look at. It's rare that I find a venue where everything works perfectly and is absolutely intuitive. So I'm giving a shout out to Craftsy and would like to tell you about ways they've helped me too.

Last July my husband and I were in Paris and I was only checking my emails once a day. There are much better things to do in Paris than check emails! One day we came back from an arduous day strolling in the streets and parks and lounging in cafes and eating, and I noticed that I had sold many copies of my Delicate Lace Scarf Pattern. I wondered why so many of the same pattern were purchased at one time. During the next few days, this continued to happen.

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/knitting/accessory/delicate-lace-scarf---easy-knitting/9326

It took a long time, but I finally understood. Craftsy had listed it as one of their Top 13 Lace Patterns and it was widely seen. Well that was great!

Then, in January, I got an email from Craftsy saying they wanted to feature my lace scarves in their blog. They sent me some interview questions for my responses. Again the high quality of Craftsy was evident in the intelligence of their questions. Instead of answering the same questionnaire I've always received from bloggers, they had some really interesting angles and it was a pleasure to respond. Here's the great article they put together:

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/01/meet-lace-knitting-pattern-designer-the-knittingguru/

Finally, the second week in March, I was selected as a Craftsy Guest Pinner on Pinterest (another one of my passions that I must write about soon!)

Here's the Craftsy Blog article on my week of Guest Pinning:

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/03/featured-pinners-joshua-veena/

The week is now over and I miss it. The response to my Craftsy Guest Pinning was amazing. So many people repinned my pins and responded positively. I added a few hundred new followers. It was a really great week. You can see my Craftsy Guest Pinner Board here: http://pinterest.com/Craftsy/guest-pinner-veena-of-knittingguru/

I hope you enjoyed this story and that you'll follow me on Pinterest where I continue to pin  every day at: http://pinterest.com/knittingguru/