Turquoise Jewelry

A couple of weeks ago Gaby was dressing for going out and trying various pairs of earrings and she casually mentioned that she would like a pair of crochet ball earrings in every color. Why not, actually, thought I :) They are easy to make, I love dyeing yarn and creating outfits, so - there we go!

I bought a string of turquoise semi-precious stone beads and metal connectors, combined them with orange wooden beads and crocheted balls and made a necklace, that sings sun and sea to me. To go with it I dyed half a dozen shades of turquoise cotton, out of which i chose these two to make two pairs of earrings, combining crocheted balls with wooden beads in the same turquoise color as the stone beads.

And another pair of simple crocheted ball earrings in blue, for her various blue outfits. I might come up with a necklace to go with these too, still waiting for the idea to clear in my head.

New Crochet Balls Earrings

I've been so busy knitting, crocheting and sewing lately, that I barely find the time to document my new makes. I sewed a dress, two cardigans, a new pair of boxer shorts and two tailor's hams, I started a new sweater and I also made half a dozen pairs of earrings, one of which was already gifted and I don't even have a picture of it, but never mind.

: One of my favourite pairs - double balls:

: A bright red pair (the red is somewhat lost in the picture), which suits Gaby magnificently:

: A yellow pair for another of Gaby's friends

: This one goes nicely with the gradient necklace I made for Gaby last month

: I bought a string of small quartz balls and turned it into a necklace with a pair of purple earrings with small quartz balls to go with it:

: This was a another string of semi-precious stones - carnelian chips, which I turned into a necklace, bracelet and earrings:

: And another string of semi-precious stones - agate chips, again turned into a necklace, bracelet and earrings:

Crochet Ball Necklaces

It all started with an idea for a small present for one of Gaby's sweet friends, who always brings me fresh rosemary from her family garden. I had one cake of YarnArt Violet 100% mercerized cotton in bright yellow, a remnant from a yellow sweater I knitted years ago. And I also have various wooden beads I´ve bought over the years for craft projects. On Wednesday after my Spanish classes I passed through one of the craft shops downtown and bought two metal wire circles for necklaces and two waxed cotton strings with clasps.

First I crocheted around two beads with the yellow cotton yarn, added three more bare wooden beads and voilá - the necklace was done. But as easy as it sounds, don't get me wrong - I'm so clumsy and inexperienced with the crochet hook, especially with such a small hook and thin thread, that crocheting around each bead took me probably half an hour each and cost me at least one aching finger :)))

However, I was bitten by the crafting bug and I spent the next day dyeing small amounts of the yellow yarn with different concentrations of blue cotton dye to get a gradient. Thus the second necklace was born, with crocheted balls for complementing earrings, which I intend to finish once I buy the necessary hardware. This necklace is for Gaby.

But how could I not make something for myself! This one is a long pendant, hanging on a waxed cotton string, with complementing earrings, of course.

And because husband complained that the colors I was using were too dull, something bright and cheery - reds, oranges, peaches and yellows on a waxed string:

I have plenty of dyed cotton yarn and ideas for necklaces and earrings, so there'll be at least a couple more before I exhaust my inspiration.