Posting Day!

Hooray! Hooray! It's Posting Day! Annnnnddddd, I've got some fantastic new designs for you! (Before I get ahead of myself, let me just tell you that I posted seven new hooks on eBay today. I also added the nifty little box on the right ---->, showing some items from my Etsy store, AND also a list of links to all the places you can find my work.)

Now down to business.... ("serious mode" engaged)...

I had an absolutely GLORIOUS time making this hook:




It is a wonderful thing to be inspired by a person, or their creation, so I like to try and give back some of that inspired thought with a direct link of some sort.

Inspired from Tori Amos' "Carbon" from her Scarlet's Walk album, I thought about what makes the song so very special -- the lines she sings, the meanings that come. "Carbon made only wants to be unmade" ... "crystalline irises" ... "shred in ribbons of lithium" ... "keep your eyes on her/on her eyes on her horizon"

In doing this, and figuring out how I could translate this into a piece of artwork, I discovered new meanings in the song. For example, I always, always thought of "crystalline irises" as eye irises, never even occurred to me that they might refer to the flowers. However, when I was searching for the right color to add to the hook, the images of those purple flowers in my own garden jumped to the forefront of my attention, and I knew it was right.

For this special dedication, a very special hook was in order, so I used techniques that I was inspired to learn at the Utah Woodturning Syposium: the textural design, plus a wonderful secret from world-renowned woodturner Cindy Drozda (web site / blog) -- the setting of precious gemstones and adding them to my woodworking. (She adds them under the lids of her boxes, which creates a marvelously special effect whenever you open one! You'd never mistake a Cindy Drozda original artwork with anyone else's!)

For this piece, I added a 3mm amethyst set in Argentium(R) Sterling Silver. (In case you're wondering, Argentium (R) Sterling is made with germanium, which severely inhibits tarnishing, yet is never less than 93% silver, like traditional sterling. You can read more about it here (PDF)).

Combining all of these techniques together was a delightful challenge, and I enjoyed every minute of it! I will be posting more artist-inspired (Tori) hooks in the coming weeks. Only my very favorite songs will be translated into crochet hooks, and I'm happy to say that I've got a few of them planned already.