So, about halfway through, I ran out of the copper wire I was using. I could have gotten more, but I had a spool in the same gauge of magnet wire, which also happened to be reddish. Reddish, festive and xmas-y, although it wouldn’t go very well with the green and purple I was using before, so I changed the base cord colour to white. I was going to use some pink too, but forgot as I got into the flow of construction. The final knot including the hanging thread is in the picture to the left, and to the right is the knot in it’s gift packaging (little organza bags from eBay).

As usual around the winter festive season I start thinking of stars and snowflakes. I had an 8 pointed star/flower in mind that I had prototyped last year, but as I developed the idea (add more bling/zing), it had less of a star aspect to it. I still think it’s quite ornamental though, and simple enough to put into production considering a late-ish start (teacher gifts for 3 kids including a whole host of extracurricular activities, even missing some that finish in early-mid December still leaves 12-14 teachers/coaches).

One of the things I love about Chinese knotting is that it is so portable. Given some string and the skill of your hands you can make so many things. And so it is that I am most often tying knots while out and about (waiting for kids!) and not at home where my supplies, tools, and scanner are. This blog in particular is an experiment to see how well I can document what I’ve done with just the recording equipment I’ve usually got (phone camera).

I started thinking about this year’s ornament sometime around November. Of course, if I wanted to make a seasonal kit to sell, I should start the process in the summer and be done some time in September or there’bouts. In any case, I was having my usual thoughts about stars and snowflakes and after a few prototypes decided to go with snowflakes.

I’m trying to start a new tradition/product line. So far I’ve almost carried through the tradition, but nothing on the product line front. What I’d like to be doing is designing a new festive tree ornament kit each year. If you look over at the shop site you’ll notice a distinct lack of ornament kits. It’s all in the timing and that, since I am the Queen of Procrastination, does not work in my favour.