I have been playing around with network drafting, which is a bloody powerful design method that can create curves in weaving designs. It’s wonderful! I can make circles, wavy lines, and all sorts of cool stuff with just a few clicks of the mouse. I’m currently experimenting with different curves and different weave patterns (twills, satins, etc.) to see what happens when I…(insert lots of variations here). I’ve also, after much struggling, figured out how to use Photoshop and Illustrator to create the design patterns I’m after. I feel like a kid opening presents at Christmas! I can’t wait to get these designs ready and on the loom. Fun and fun and fun and fun!
Meanwhile, I have been stymied by my orange tiger eye shawl once again. I FINALLY found the perfect beads to complement the tiger striped beads – oval hematite beads – and started sewing them on. Then I discovered….they’re magnetic. Strongly magnetic. The beads in my fringe stick together!
Well, obviously this won’t do. So, since I was visiting my dad, who is an electronics wizard, I convinced him to cobble up a demagnetizer for me. But unfortunately the magnetic field was way too strong, so the hematite remains magnetized. So I can’t use these beads.
So, next step is a trip to my mom, who makes the most gorgeous compound beads (beads made out of other beads), in hopes that she can help me figure out what beads will go well with the tiger eye shawl. I am hoping to get it set up with those tiger striped beads, someday. The shawl is lovely, the beads are lovely, and I’m certain they would go great together. If only those beads weren’t magnetic…
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Oh dear. Yeah, these days almost all “hematite” beads are actually artificial magnetic material which are made from steel slag IIRC.
It’s possible to find glass beads with a similar-looking “gunmetal” finish, but I don’t know how sturdy their coatings are. Perhaps oxidized/antiqued silver or pewter? Any particular shape, or are they essentially meant to be quiet background beads to set off the tiger stripes?
Ah. That would explain the magnetic properties.
I actually went to a (rather stunningly huge) bead shop in Maryland with my mom yesterday, and wound up buying some nice oval onyx beads; paired with a short string of 3mm black-with-gold-highlights beads, they show off the tiger striped beads nicely. I got half the fringe done on the plane, and plan to finish the other half tomorrow. Pix once I finish!