RGB-Inspired Beaded Lace Collar Necklaces

 RBG Necklaces

Making these necklaces has helped me through the past couple of months. I can channel my feelings of stress, sadness, disappointment and uncertainty into expressions of order, beauty and tribute.

Each is unique. I did not follow a pattern or copy any specific necklaces, but I believe I have stayed true the idea of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's collars. After beading through most of my pearly, white and silver Czech beads, and using up all my white Nymo thread, I ended up ordering more white materials. 

I also ventured into using color, which was quite fun. 

Time Article About the Collars

If anyone seeing these is interested in having one 

or giving one as a gift, let me know.

This necklace is for sale on ETSY.com

Details:

With my granddaughters in mind:

ABC's Words Matter

ABC's I Love Rainbows

the work space:

Early Spring Weaving

Spending time indoors still because of cold weather 

and social distancing,
I decided to warp up the loom for one more run.

The warp is vintage Bucilla Wondersheen and a white acrylic

I love my Schacht shuttle.
The warp pattern I used was a combination of two from M.P. Davison: Henriksson's Finnish Bird's eye and Josephine Esters' Maltese Cross plus my own "interruption" to give the design some vibration.

My woofs (fillings) were of a variety of wools, cottons, blends and acrylics including 

Vintage Bernat Fleurette, Dainty Fleurette, and Spinnerin Eldorado, and my own hand spun yarn made with Polworth wool, often plied with Borgs-Mora 20/2 wool and Paternayan Persian yarn.

Exploring the endless possibilities for variation using different colors, yarns, and treadling combinations is always such a joy for me.

 Washed - four pieces - before final steaming and blocking:

Winter Weaving

Blue-faced Leicester, Polworth, Shetland, Jacob, Merino, Persian. If you are in the know, you know these are breeds of sheep that produce wool - wool for, in this case, weaving. When I was younger around age 12/13 yarn and weaving attracted me about as much as boys did. When I was 18, I saw my first weaving studio at Cornell and thought yes, that is what I want to study. But then, once a student, I saw how long the projects took, and I decided: I will not spend my expensive education working on a floor loom into the wee hours of the night. I will weave when I am old and retired. That time is here!

The five blankets were woven using warping patterns from 

A Handweaver's Pattern Book by Marguerite Porter Davison. 

I used John Murphy's No. 10 Texture Weave and, primarily, 

John Watson's Blanket Tweel. 

I created my own weaving patterns after experimenting with the weaves in the book. 

I made the five blankets with two warps, one with a lot of reds and the other with a lot of blues.

Hanging out on the loom

Detail with logo

Five blankets washed, blocked and folded

Granddaughter helps

detail on the loom

Warp #2 just off the loom

Stacked