putting the knit in shizknitz

Good morning. Today is Friday, and a holiday day-off from work for me. Funny how I never seem to be able to get up before the 5th snooze alarm goes off on any other day, but if its a day I don’t have to work, I’m up hours before the first buzzer goes off. It is 6:30 AM and most people can’t think of anything but their first cup of coffee. I have those mornings as well, but today, right now, I am craving some tacos. We’re picking up the rental for our weekend getaway to Mammoth (which means, no Titos this weekend) and I’m currently trying to think of when, and how I will get my hands on some this morning before we officially leave.

On another subject, I frequently get asked what exactly *is* handmade jewelry. I found this one jeweler’s site which talks about their personalized, handmade, commission pieces and at the bottom with some great photos. His description is exactly what is done in class - we take a piece of silver, hand saw and mill it into shape (2nd photo from left on their site) then we shape it into and size the ring where we again hand saw (3rd from left), hand file (4th from left) to round edges if necessary, and polish (2nd from right). Their finished product (very right) is similar to the band I just completed for my tzaborite booger. I’ll do a punch to set this ring next week.

The center photo is my long-term project I’ve been working on. I’m still unsure how it will turn out, but the idea is for something similar to the Vatche X prong setting. The background is, of course the Honeymoon Cami I’ve been working on for the last few weeks. This is a relatively easy and fun pattern for something so darn cute! The author also just put up FAQ’s and has a gallery of those who have completed it. Hopefully mine will be up soon too!