Felted Yarn Ball Bead Necklace - Purple

Description

This asymmetrical necklace is made from wet felted balls of left-over yarn in purple colours. I wound the yarn into little balls and then felted them by hand and in the washing machine.

The yarns used include 100% wool, hand-spun alpaca, and mohair/merino/alpaca blends. The beads range in colour from lavender, to grey, light purple, violet and burgundy.

The necklace is threaded onto cream crochet cotton, which has been crocheted into a chain at each end. The beads have been threaded on from smallest to largest - which results in an asymmetrical piece.

To add to this asymmetrical feel, the fastening for the necklace sits on the side of the piece (though if you prefer, you can put this at the back for a different look).

The yarn ball necklace fastens with a lovely pale lavender, textured button, and I have sewn on two more buttons for extra decoration, but you could actually use these to fasten the necklace for a range of looks and lengths.

This is a one-off piece that took a lot of time and care to make. While the beads are felted as securely as possible, they are not indestructible. Therefore, they need to be treated with care and not picked at or played with too much. The item can be gently hand washed if necessary - avoid rubbing the beads, rather, give it a gentle dip in soapy cool water, and rinse out.

The necklace measures approximately 60cm in length.

An environmentally friendly piece that uses up materials that would otherwise be unused or go to waste!

Added on Nov 17, 2009