After publishing Endira Necklace almost a year ago with Interweave Knits, I really wanted to design another knitted necklace.  All my favorite things at once:  Pretty, quick, and a mix of beads and lace!  It took lots of swatching (lace always does for me!) to get it just right, and I'm quite pleased with the end result.  A bit about the design:

Inspired by the ornate necklaces worn in ancient Egypt, Saqqara is a collar style necklace worked in a beaded lace pattern. It is worked from the bottom up, beginning with a beaded long tail cast on. Glass seed beads are added to the lace pattern with a small crochet hook. Using only a small amount of yarn, Saqqara is perfect for using up leftovers from lace projects.

Two sizes are included in the pattern, a small collar and longer necklace length. Instructions for an optional beaded bind off are included. Large necklace sample shows beaded bind off. Small collar shows plain bind off. 

Stitch pattern is written and charted.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Small collar: 17.5” long at inner neck and 2.25” from edge to point of lace.
Large necklace: 22.5” long at inner neck and 2.25” from edge to point of lace.

MATERIALS
Laceweight yarn:
50 yds (about 6 gms) for small collar
60 yards (about 7 gms) for large necklace.

Seed beads size 6/0:
Small collar with beaded bind off: 197 beads
Small collar with plain bind off: 162 beads
Large necklace with beaded bind off: 253 beads
Large necklace with plain bind off: 208 beads

necklace clasp

NEEDLES
US #4/3.5 mm needles
US #6/4 mm needles

NOTIONS REQUIRED
sewing needle (with eye small enough for beads to pass over)
stitch markers: 8 for collar, 10 for necklace
steel crochet hook size 12 for adding beads
pins for blocking

GAUGE
1 repeat of Saqqara pattern = 3” wide at bottom, 2.5” wide at top, and 2.25” long from point of lace to top.

$5.00

Studio?  Office?  Craft room?  Whatever you'd like to call it, this is the room where I work and keep all my crafty supplies.  Occasionally I'll see in magazines the studios of professional fiber artists and I'll think "Wow!  So organized and beautiful... Mine will never look like that!"  Why?  Well, as crafty as I am, I just have no clue when it comes to interior decorating.  Having rented all my living spaces, I have never had the opportunity to paint or add permanent things to walls, so everything just tends to be more functional than aesthetic.  

So, I would like to introduce my room.  It is messy, but it is organized messy.  I only lose track of things when I clean!  

This is my desk area, filled with all my crafty magazines and a bookshelf full of crafty books.  You can't really tell from the photo, but above my desk are three paintings of a shepherd and his flock in the English countryside.  I think of it as inspiration for owning my own sheep some day.  

Here is my yarn, organized (somewhat) by color.  Whenever I tell my husband that I'm off to the yarn store, he will exclaim "Why??  You already own a yarn store!!"  Mostly, he is right!  But sometimes you just don't have the right color in the right weight and the right fiber for a particular project.  And sometimes I buy yarn just because it is smooshy and pretty and I like to look at it and squish it between my hands.  

This is my sewing corner, which was created only yesterday.  I try to indulge in other hobbies besides knitting, because after awhile a sea of Stockinette stitch makes me a little loopy (get it?  Loopy!  ha ha yarn humor!  anyway...)  I have a couple sewing projects lined up, and I wanted a permanent place to have my sewing machine set up.  Two Christmases ago, my husband bought me this lovely sewing table (the sewing machine can be lowered so that the sewing surface is level with the rest of the table) and thus far I have been hauling it out to the living room every time I wanted to sew.  Very inconvenient and after every sewing session I had to lug it all back to my room.  After a bit of rearranging I managed to fit the table into this corner, which is perfect with a couple outlets and a window for natural light.

Meet Betty The Dress Form.  I don't know what I'd do without her!!  I bought Betty while I was in fashion design school and have loved her ever since.  She is roughly my size (and, luckily, roughly the sample size for magazine samples) so she really helps with measuring and achieving a good fit for knitting and sewing projects.  As you can see, she is currently wearing a new design that I am working on.  Just finished the knitting last night; today is all about weaving in ends and blocking.  I wanted to style this sweater with a skirt, so Betty has been wearing my favorite skirt while I was making sure the body length wasn't too long or out of proportion.  Next to Betty is my garment steamer.  My other favorite tool!  I am really terrible at ironing, so I am more likely to steam something that has wrinkles. My husband likes to use it too, so I will highly recommend it to anyone that is ironing-impaired like us.

Lastly, this is the loom and fabric corner.  I dream of someday have a wall full of wood shelves where I can stack all my neatly folded fabrics into a rainbow of calico.  But, being an Army wife means I can look forward to moving every few years, so for now everything has to live in plastic totes.  Not so pretty to look at, but much easier to move from place to place.  I've been in my current house for almost a year, and my looms are still tied up with plastic wrap.  Sorry, looms.  Knitting takes up most of my craft time, and I spend non-knitting time gardening, sewing or spinning.  Someday I shall return to weaving.  

In the corner you can see we're back at my desk again.  So that is it!  Full 360 view of my room.  I am very lucky to have a craft room all to myself and I try to use is the best I can.