A little knitting, a little beading

Well, I've had a pretty productive Monday. For Mother's Day, my hubby gave me some "cashola" towards some beads that I was lusting after. I had started the ground work for this necklace by making the dangles several weeks ago. Today I strung all the beads together and finished the necklace. It didn't take too long with all the prep work done already. This necklace is very busy and I'm happy with how it turned out, but I think I will feel very self-conscious wearing it.

The black and white beads aren't really Kazuri beads as I couldn't find the beads that the pattern called for anywhere and spent quite a bit of time searching for them on the net. They have all kinds of beads, but none of the black and white ones. I wish I coul

d have found the real ones. These beads are made by hand by women in Nairobi, Kenya that are seeking finanacial independence. I finally found a good substitute to get the look that I wanted at Fire Mountain gems. I couldn't find the same black and white beads on their website, but they do have them in their catalog under handmade glass beads. I've included close-ups of the focal dangle (below) and the dangles on the side (to the right).

Below is a close-up of the dangle on the back of the necklace. The necklace has a lobster claw fastener that you hook into this chain part way down, so the rest of the chain with the dangle hangs down.

I have managed a bit of knitting too. I've been working on socks for hubby (I'm to the point of picking up the gussets). If I don't get it finished before I go on vacation, I think it would be a good project to work on while on the plane. I will post pics of knitting on next post as blogger is being verrrry slow today, and I have other things to do.