Beaded Dorset Buttons

 All the peppers and tomatoes are in the pots.   All the flowers for the deck are planted, although I just realized that I've been watering Geranium cuttings all winter, and I have an empty hanging basket that I should pop them into.   I just found out why the parsley plant didn't do well last year, and not only because of the swallowtail butterflies.   There is a chipmunk that likes parsley and I see him at the planter, nibbling away at the leaves and stalks!  It's supposed to be rainy on Saturday, so I've planned for some time on Sunday to finish up planting the seeds.  Beans, cururbits, Kale and chard on deck please!

I was playing around with Dorset Buttons a couple of nights ago and learned how to add beads to my buttons.  There is a rug hooker that does Dorset buttons as well, but she uses heavier yarns and larger rings to make them.  She adds all her beads after the buttons are finished and just sews them on.   I didn't think that would work with my buttons.  The Dorset buttons I make, are smaller and with finer threads, so I learned several different ways, including adding them while winding the spokes and sewing them on afterwards using  3 different methods. I'm pretty pleased with my first attempt.   I used Perle cotton and some nice glass beads.   Next time I'm at a textile store, I'll check for some beading needles with larger eyes, just to make things a little bit easier. What I had worked adequately, just not as easily as I'd hoped.

This is another attempt with Perle cotton and glass bugle beads.  It's smaller than the blue button.  I think the ring was too small for the space the bugle beads take up, as some of them are pushed down a bit.  Auto correct keeps trying to make it seem like I'm using Beagle beads, rather than bugle beads, which is kind of funny.   Apparently bugle beads come in different diameters, which seem to vary by very small amounts, like .2mm, .4mm, .7 mm larger.  Really, it might be fun to try, but I'm not in any hurry to source these as I can't imagine that what I made wouldn't work for most purposes for which I might need it.  These work fine for me.  Gina B Silkworks has some interesting button tutorials on YouTube, which are really well done.

FLEECE UPDATE: I've two lovely white fleeces washed already.  I have the remaining 3/4 of the Icelandic fleece washed.  It was a really enticing grey, but I didn't enjoy spinning it.  I gave some away and I'll try again with the rest.  I washed up a bit of New Zealand merino that I've been carting around for a while too, just to get it out of the way.    I've a fabulous black fleece and two more white fleeces to wash, as well as half an amazing cria (baby alpaca) fleece that I can't wait to work with.  Guess what I'm doing this summer?