So I thought I should explain a little about my knitting needle jewelery and other items that will join them soon.
Around five years ago I was visiting friends in St. Leonards (along the cost from Brighton, St. Leonards is to Hastings what Hove is to Brighton). We were walking along the seafront and went to have a drink in a cafe. I noticed somebody in the cafe wearing bracelets made from knitting needles and I instantly fell in love with them, I couldn’t take my eyes off of them and knew I had to have some myself, I asked about them and it turned out she had made them herself, she told me the process she had used for her own. Later that day when I was rummaging through junk shops I came across the perfect odd pair of needles for the bracelets I wanted to make myself, it was meant to be! So the next day I made myself a pair one bright green and one bright yellow, I loved these bracelets and I wasn’t a big jewelery wearer at that time but I just could not stop wearing them.
Probably one of the main reasons for me loving these bracelets so much is that I simply adore items that are made from other items, my parents have always been very conscious about re-using and recycling especially when it came to gardening, in fact I have always had random things used for other purposes around me from a young age, for instance once my shoes were too small or had become worn out they became plant pots in the garden, my mums worn out tights became lines for plants to grow up in our allotment, any old pipes my dad came across became structures for his beloved tomatoes to thrive in, complete with fake unusable taps attached.
Anyway back to the bracelets, I left it for a good couple of years and then I found them in my mind again when feeling particularly skint but wanting to make my friend a gift, I did so and this led to me making more for other friends as gifts, I soon realised I had a real knack for making the bracelets and began to experiment lots with different types of needles and in making rings as well.
My parents started running market stalls selling their own handmade items (please see https://www.facebook.com/pages/one-bright-spark/290625017707165?ref=ts&fref=ts) so I thought it a good opportunity to try out how the bracelets would sell. They managed to sell quite a few before I decided to take up having an Etsy shop myself and this is where I am now, with aspirations to have my own stall selling them within the next couple of months.
After researching I do now realise that I am not the only person making these items (much as I thought it was just a craft idea that someone who had figured it out willingly shared with me when I first started making them) however I feel I have taken the basics and brought my own aspects to it with regards to both presentation and design, I have recently come up with a twisted bracelet design and am experimenting with further ideas (which will be appearing soon). It can be a contentious issue when it comes to design and making but I figure inspiration always comes from somewhere and if you are developing ideas and not replicating then that seems justified to me. Many times I have thought I have come up with an original idea and then have Googled it only to find the idea already exists, the market is saturated and it is very hard to not come close to others ideas. What is your opinion on this?
Apologies for the long and twisted blog, hopefully it makes sense, I am dyslexic and writing isn’t ever my first choice but I wanted somewhere to share my ramblings with other makers.
The image above shows a selection of my makes that I’m selling through my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/YellowBearWares
Yellow bear wares 