Anyone perusing these pages, which I do, in fact, consider to be the more successful of my pieces, cannot fail to be aware of the many problems. I thought the butterfly really worked well: the fibers made a pleasing combination of colors and textures (quite by accident, as many aren't ones I commonly used), which also reflected the pretty center bead; it gave a great focal point; and the piece really looks like a butterfly. So I decided to try again, with another favorite motif, a rose.

Unlike the butterfly, I do have a great many choices in these colorways. I love ombres, so I incorporated them here. I used the beads to help delineate the petals. And I was pretty happy with the way the flat braids (mitake, I believe) came out. (The weakest aspect of the butterfly necklace was its kumi. the patterns are vague and disappear. However, I was unwilling to make additional braids: braiding 16 single strands of FFF silk is time consuming. This is why proper kumists make samples.)

It's a pretty necklace, and I'm happy with it, though not to the point of fixing those ugly joins between the weaving and the braiding. But it's not a butterfly.

cotton, some ombre overdyed, silk, nephrite, fancy mixed agate/india jasper/bloodstone (take your pick of names) glass, metal.

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.