Beaded Jewelry

My grandmother's birthday is this weekend so a few days ago I started to work on a broomstick lace shawl for her. Despite my testing the initial base sc chain twice, after the first row of lace it was apparent that it was going to be a little small. I kept going, hoping that with blocking I could make it work and then as a last resort I could make another panel and add it on at the top to widen it at the shoulders. But after four days of working on it and becomming continually more discouraged I gave up and went back to the pattern books to find something else.

I came across a page of crocheted wire jewelry and that's been something I've wanted to try for a while. So I got out a hook, wire, beads, and findings and started to figure something out. I started stringing beads and wrapping wire and before I knew it I had made half a bracelet and never even used the hook! But I was accomplishing the goal which was to have a gift for my grandmother so I was still happy although it wasn't what I'd set out to do in the first (or second) place. It felt odd to be making a crafty gift that wasn't crocheted. But for now crocheted wire is still on my to do list and here are some pics of the finished products. A bracelet and earring set in blue.