I wanted to do something both knotty and beady, generally decorative and it would be best if it were wearable… I’ve had a project in mind for a few years now that is mostly just a name, plus a vague idea of fringe to go with the knotty and beadedness. Time to execute! Or is it? Best to sample first. I had the idea that I wanted the fibre base to fill the beads fully as possible but still thread through without too much angst and bought some yarn accordingly (it’s about the same size as 6 strand embroidery thread). Black because everything goes with black. Then with whatever beads were in my crafty backpack at the time, I went with the kids to watch them do their extracurriculars and sample. Strung in multiples of 8 because I was doing a 4 strand crown and wanted to see if any interesting patterns were going to emerge. After all, why should kumists have all the beady fun? 8)

Note: I found this incomplete linkdump file in progress and decided to post it and backdate it just ‘cos.

There is a major Chinese knot button exhibit that is touring China. It most recently was (is?) in Beijing and is moving to Shanghai for the World Expo next month. Follow the link below to see an English video about the exhibit. It looks like the current fashionable style is to make a pictorial quilt with the button frogs, but considering the size of the thing maybe there’s some knotted frogs in there too.

Pretty pictures
The watermark is a little annoying, but I still like the picture of these knotted shoes. Not enough to bid on it, but… 8)
http://cgi.ebay.ca/PRETTY-HANDMADE-KNIT-SHOES-SHAPED-CHINESE-KNOT_W0QQitemZ220574689665QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item335b46a981

The Dong-Lim Korean knotting museum in Seoul, Korea has it’s own website!! Tell you later after I have at it with some brute force clicking and online translators what especially cool treasures (I hope!) lie within…
http://shimyoungmi.com/