Lets make a bead oya TOGETHER!

So I dont make many tutorials but I thought I would do this one just for the bead oya lovers out there. I will be divulging into the many uses of the oya made popular by Adele Recklies on her website which teaches what she has simply named "oya stitch" which I know to be Yillan Kemigi or Snakes Bone oya, which originated in my mother in laws home city of Konya in Turkey.  This oya can be made simply as it is and attached to a scarf, or can have more complicated designs where the "snakes bone" acts as a sort of band that holds the rest of the oya.  Today I will be showing you a basic tutorial simply called "eyebrow."  My mother in law taught me this oya, and its really simple and beautiful to make.  To achieve the best results, I suggest becoming familiar with the yillan kemigi oya before beginning this tutorial, as I have simple pictures and captions to explain what to do.  You can find the tutorial HERE

Now I know there are some people out there who will disregard what I'm about to say, but I'd appreciate if you have a little respect and not post these instructions to your website, blog, anything without linking BACK to me.  I've taken the time to teach you something, atleast be kind enough to acknowledge the person who taught you.  Thankyou :)

Chain one, take one bead chain one.

Go into the 1st ch and sc, slide another bead down close it and ch 1

Go into bead and sc, slide down bead and ch 1, turn and repeat

This is how Yillan Kemigi is formed, Now for the "eyebrow" part...

So we have what it looks like on the left.  After 4 beads in total, chain 8 and go into left side of 2nd bead from
your hook and sc. ch 1 and take a bead, go into ch and sc.  Do this 7 times.  The 7th bead will become
part of the yillan kemigi.  The step by step is below.

Ch 8, sc into left side of 2nd bead from hook.

7 beads over chain.Ch 1 and sc into far side of snakes bone (continuing the snake bone oya stitch.)  slide down bead
ch 1 turn and go into 7th bead of the "eyebrow"  repeat these steps.  You can leave as many beads in between motifs as you like, I normally leave 2 or 3.

 .

When your oya is long enough, chain 8 and dc into left side of 2nd bead from hook.  Ch 6 and repeat till end.

I hope this tutorial is to your liking.  I hope you all have a lovely day!

Bits and pieces for the new year!

 I hope everyone had a safe holiday season with lots of good memories!  So heres a few things Ive been working on or doing,  1st we have an oya flower that I made in my spare time out of pure boredom, 2nd we have a new pair of earrings soon to be up on etsy, 3rd we have a scarf I'm in the middle of making, and 4 was just a trial of the cinar yapragi bead oya, which I might add a tutorial for :)

Peace x.

I had some spare time so I made this.

Earrings soon to be up on etsy

Bahce (Garden) Oya

Bead version of Cinar Yapragi (sycamore leaves)

Turkish Stitch Bracelets

So last night my partner reminded me that we would be hopefully opening a market stall next year and suggested I start making things that everyone would like (not just scarves because obviously not everyones muslim to wear one)  So I thought I'd whip up some trial bracelets before my partners mother sends us more supplies (beads, threads, whatnot)  This isn't exactly a stitch, its more a sequence of stitches that create what is actually a form of oya edging (called yilan omurgasi or snake spine.)  The edging part would be made by making a stitch in between the beads and then chaining and repeating for the length of the oya, however if you use bigger beads and thicker thread you can make them into bracelets.  I think Adele has a tutorial on this stitch on her website or blog, I think its http://www.recklessbeading.blogspot.com/, or alternatively you can find her on ravelry under the same nickname. 

My day of crafting- including Oprah.

So today was a fabulous day, bright and sunny.  I began my day by visiting my children in their pen outside (for those of you reading this for the first time, please don't call welfare, I'm referring to my chickens) and spent a good hour with them before I'd finished soaking up the sun, and decided to return inside.  To my disbelief it was Oprahs last episode today, of course this has already happened in America and I'm sure you're all over it by now, but its going to be hard now not watching her every day at 1pm.  Anyway yesterday I went to visit my grandmother, and I thought I'd kill 2 stones with one bird and go for a little hoarding session at my local asian junk, random, useless crap store (in Australia, lovely Asian people own stores that just have random crap in them that come in handy and its cheap aswel so why not) and mind you by now these people know me by name because I always go in there and buy stuff.  Now I've always been one to try and find my own 'way' or putting my own 'spin' on doing oya lace, although keeping it authentic still and not doing anything too risky.  I found these really weird sequins that I'd never seen before that were in the shape of a shell.





These are the sequins.  They're shell shaped, with 2 holes at the top.  They look yellow however they change depending on the light- so they go to green and a shade of pink aswel.

So immediately I look to the ceiling and try to imagine what I can do with them- so I practically rushed home after buying a few more things to see if my idea could be put into practice.

This is the Oya I came up with.  Its crocheted with a light blue nylon thread, and it measures approximately 3 metres.  I think it looks really nice and I'm really happy with it.


Another Oya I have been working on was a small beaded oya that I believe they call "train tracks."  I say my partners mother taught me this one, even though I just followed her example of a piece she'd left here.  The beads I used are from Japan, theyre Miyuki Delica beads, and the sharp blue colour caught my attention as soon as I went into Spotlight.  I've used about 4 packets now, and its still not long enough so I'll need to go back and by some more.  Spotlight stocks the beads that are actually imported and packed by Maria George, who is well know in the beads area in Melbourne, and she has a shop in the city in Flinders lane I think, not sure about that one, but I must make a note of going to her shop and seeing what other beads she has!!

So these are just some of the things I got up to over the past couple of days, and tomorrow my partner and I are going to a Turkish "Tulip" Festival over the other side of Melbourne, apparently the 1st tulip was found in Turkey over 500 years ago (or something) So I guess thats worth celebrating right?  I'll let you know how it goes!  Thanks for reading!  Peace xx