I-Loom with the start of a friendship bracelet on it.
Would you believe that I actually found time to discover new fiber arts even while unpacking? I did. It was completely by accident, too. Someone somewhere online mentioned something called soutache. I’d never heard of it before, so naturally I had to go look it up on Google. And naturally, once I found out what it was, well, it was necessary to buy books and supplies so I could try it.
I need an intervention lol.
Soutache is a type of trim. It’s flat braid, and you take several pieces in various colors to stitch it in place around a bead. Or several beads. Well, of course I was snagged. Beads and fiber arts, my two favorite things!
I haven’t tried it yet. The kit containing all of the braid arrived in the mail pretty recently, but the kit doesn’t include beads, and I didn’t have the right type in my stash, so I had to order them. Some of them arrived yesterday, so I have everything I need to try and make a piece; I just haven’t had the time to do it! There’s a learning curve, and I’m holding out for when I can really sit down with it for a couple of hours and watch some tutorials. Right now, between unpacking, children, critters, and PIP, I’m lucky I have time to breathe!
I also came across this item called an I-Loom. It’s one of those “toys” aimed at teenaged girls, for the purpose of making friendship bracelets. Really complex ones, too, which appeals to me. For all intents and purposes, it’s micro-macramé, and
A crane, which is pretty much the best of my origami talents so far!
the loom itself is like a kumihimo plate, so you can anchor your threads when they’re not in use. Yeah, you know what happened: I bought it for me. Bryony doesn’t have the coordination or patience for something like this yet, and Aneira is more focused on cute boys and playing video games right now. She might like a friendship bracelet as long as she doesn’t have to do the work of making it. Fortunately for her, I don’t mind making things!!
The girls have got me doing origami too. I haven’t done that probably since I was Bryony’s age, but they brought home origami projects from school, and it just went from there. I’m not particularly good at it, but it’s fun to do nonetheless, and I’d forgotten that.
Kids, Dogs, and Crafts...Oh, My! 