Thursday 2 August 2012

Small, sweet and shiny!

Review. Pearl Knotting Workshop (July 2012), The Beaderie, Cambridge  


I was very excited to count myself amongst only 4 craftsters for an intimate and highly in demand workshop led by local pearl stringing aficionado Sally of ‘The Beaderie’. Due to the cosy nature of the venue – it really is teeny tiny - they can only squeeze four enthusiastic jewellers in. And, in order to be ‘in’ one has to literally leap on an email the second the class is announced. This was second time lucky for me.

The start was a little brusque for my liking, with not much in the way of introduction or general banter. Instructions said arrive early in order to prepare. Apparently there’s no messing with keen knotters and it was straight down to business. Sally made it look a breeze and I sat there confidently thinking, oh yes, I’ll master that. A slight case of overconfidence on my part as I swiftly did all sorts of strange things with my tweezers. As a small workshop one on one time with the tutor was ace and I was soon happily knotting away. It’s a very methodical thing to do and I just switched off and enjoyed. The class was on one of the hotter days (there have been a few, really!) and I didn’t enjoy the heat in the shop so much. It would have been great if we’d been advised to take a bottle of water. On the flip side being in the heart of the shop meant being surrounded by the glittering gleaming shiny seductive temptation of all the fantastic beads and gems. Warning to the wallet! The longer you sit knotting the more attractive all the beads look. I left the class with a solid understanding of the knotting technique, a sweet pearl necklace, more confidence in finishing a strung piece and a bag full of goodies for my next go (as yet unaccomplished). A good night out!

Hammer and Pickle ratings:
Value – 5/5 Hammers: Affordable (if you don’t get carried away in the shop at the end), all materials included
Vibes - 3/5 Hammers: A reserved friendliness and a focussed atmosphere
Pickle rating – 1/5 Pickles: Other than the aforementioned tweezer tweak this really was a walk in the park, but one in which I learned a useful jewellery stringing tecnhnique. Don’t get that in many parks round here.


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