Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

When I used to design homes, I knew what they would look like in my mind.   And I always sighed gratefully and with relief when the homes were finished and they really did look like what I imagined.   It is the same with my jewelry.  Viking Knit with pearls  The beautiful crystal prism that I saved (who knows why) from some chandelier years ago would become my focal. When I added pearls to viking knit just to see what it looked like, I had no idea where I would use it (see post http://lindabrittdesign.blogspot.com/search?q=viking+knit+and+pearls). As I sat at my workbench with my pencil, paper and parts, this design took shape.   I realized I did not have enough pearls and knew the Tucson Gem Show was coming up.   I drew the design and put the parts (prism and viking knit with pearls) in a box.    I could get pearls the right color and size to finish my recycled prism necklace. Some major health issues popped up in our house and I had to cancel the Tucson trip.   A couple

 Acorn Woodpecker on my porch - Had to share this one!      Woodpeckers are all around my neighborhood.   Peter and I took a walk and saw four different species in just a few minutes.   They are so much fun to watch flying and pecking holes in the trees. The most common one I see is the Acorn Woodpecker.   He’s the one that looks a little like a clown and sounds like he is laughing.   The male has a brilliant red cap starting at the forehead while the females have a black area between the forehead and the cap.   Look for the white neck, throat, and forehead patches as field marks to identify these birds.   They rely on acorns as well as insects for food and they often peck holes in a tree to store acorns for winter.      Acorn Woodpecker     Williamson Sapsuckers are gorgeous woodpeckers.   The male has a bright yellow belly, a bright red patch under the chin and is black and white.   I just stopped and watched him drill sap wells in the tree.   The femal

 Bead-It (Prescott AZ) and I are offering a class to make a viking knit bracelet in March.   I took the class example in to the bead store and in the process came home with two new (to me) tools to experiment with - a Knitting Spool and a Wyr Knittr. I wanted to know how the chain looked using these techniques compared to the Viking knit and how the processes differed.  Viking Knit Example  Check my post on viking knit to see that technique. http://lindabrittdesign.blogspot.com/2011/10/learning-as-we-go.html  I started with the Knitting Spool – a wooden spool about 3” tall and 1 ½” wide with a hole through the middle.   There are 5 cotter pins on the top and the wire is wound around the pins in one of 2 patterns.   A pick helps put the lower wire over the upper wire at each cotter pin for each row.   The knitted tube is funneled through the center hole and comes out the bottom.       Knitter Spool Example  I think it took me a couple of tries