Metal and Crochet- An Interesting Mixture

For over a year, my godmother has been asking me to start a Ravelry, an amazing knitting and crocheting community forum, information database, shop resource, and more. I had always avoided it feeling that my wire crochet was not a true fiberworks art. (Fiberworks are crocheting and knitting with yearn.) Well, as time would have it, I bit the bullet today and decided to sign-up--- and started getting ideas! Why not try to use metal to create a standalone art piece using a typically yarn-based crochet pattern?

My semi-epiphany may seem logical, but once you have tried crocheting with metal, you will see why I had avoided it. Metal, unlike yarn, does not supply a "give" making it easier to work with and shape. While one can undo a yarn based stitch, one cannot undo a metal based stitch without likely breaking the metal. This situation leads to the need for extreme exactness and being able to find creative measures to hide "mistakes." It also causes wire crochet artists to typically start with making cuff bracelets or braided necklaces, as can be seen below.

"Fire" Inspired Brass Wire Crochet Bracelet

Black Pearl Silver Wire Crochet Necklace

Both these pieces use relatively simple stitches, yet look beautiful when done. (Granted, I put teeny, weeny seed beads on them, making the stringing take over an hour, but it is worth it.) However, when trying to applying crochet techniques to more difficult ideas, it took over a year to develop my skills. The next two pieces show my relatively current skills; the ones that I feel can now move to the next level.

Black Pearl Bird's Nest

Green Flourite Silver Wire Crochet Pendant

And what is the next level? Either this pattern from Pie in the Sky Crochet, or a variant of it. Now, upon reading this pattern, my head has gone "BOOM," but with patience and time, it could be an excellent necklace or bracelet. I just have to use different size hooks and get the hang of working the next level in wire. 

So, in short, wish me luck! I will try to do a semi-documentation of making this piece in pure copper core wire...

Gemstones, Teaching, and Sharing Knowledge

This last weekend, I taught my first official workshop about the Healing Properties of Gems hosted by the wonderful Nicole of Balanced Body Mind Spirit, an alternative holistic healing practice specializing in personal coaching, reiki, and mediation practices. (Here is Balanced Body Mind Spirit's website in case you live in the Toronto/ Newmarket area in Ontario.)  Officially called "Combining Crystals to Relieve Physical, Emotional, Mental, & Energetic Maladies," this course offered basic crystal knowledge, connecting crystals to their appropriate chakras, and learning how to use one's own intuition to develop their own healing abilities. In short, I had to structure my knowledge learnt over decades into a nice, understandable package; an exercise that incorporated patience, forethought, and the teaching skills ten years of classroom teaching had imbued me with.

See the story behind this picture on my Instagram account.

Teaching has been a love/ hate relationship for the last few years. Before becoming an artist, I was a math and science teacher who specialized with at-risk youth ad gifted & talented classrooms. I adored helping students learn but had severe trouble internally coping with how the public bureaucratic system limited teachers. This limitation ultimately hurt the students' learning and development within and outside the classroom. Extremely aggravated and exasperated, I quit classroom teaching upon moving to Canada. Instead, I focused on evolving my artistic skills and the general business.

This last Saturday, I had the honor to teach a subject that I discovered innately flowed from within. Since I was a small child, gemstones have fascinated and attracted me. My curiosity about these sparkly beauties slowed coalesced into learning a substantial amount of information about the gemstones' energies, histories, and chemical structures. To share this information felt natural and needed no extra thinking. The workshop became a person reminder that I had become a teacher for a reason- that it is an instinctive act for me from a relatively young age.

Needless to say, the workshop flowed smoothly. The participants and myself both learnt, discussed, and expanded our collective knowledge about gemstones and healing. (If you ever meet a teacher, or a guru, who states to possess complete knowledge on any topic, you will be looking into the eyes of a fraud or an idiot; excuse my language.) After the workshop, I had students saying thank you. During the workshop, I was saying thank you. The workshop was filled with learning, laughter, and most importantly, light.