My Venice wrap for the Jane Thornley Knitalong has put me in a "dark and mysterious" mood.  Here is an update on the work in progress:

I love the lapis chip beads against the black.  This project is a joy to work on, because it is coming out better than I expected, whereas most projects usually fall short of the fantabulous vision I had in my mind.

All of the wraps in this knitalong are amazing.  If you aren't a ravelry member to view the ravelry thread, you can get a peek on Jane Thornley's blog.

Here's a bird's eye view of the wrap as of today:



It's turning blue!  It will be more black once the black edging and I-cords are added.

While hunting for the beads for this project, I came across some beads that I had fallen in love with and acquired ages ago, and then lost them in my bead stash.  They are tiger's eye and a rich, deep green stone that I think is called Serpentine.  They weren't cheap.  This was definitely a very naughty impulse purchase, so once I found them again my conscience began to bother me for not using them.  Last night I dusted off my beading tools and made this:



unfortunately my amateur photography skills are not up to capturing how rich the dark green is.  Like my Venetian wrap, I feel like this necklace is as dark and mysterious as a Renaissance portrait.

Today I did my daily check of my favorite ravelry forums, and ColorJoy (aka LynnH) has issued a challenge to "knit spring into existence."  This reminded me of another set of shamefully neglected beads I had to have and didn't use.  Sooo, I am going to try to switch gears and "bead spring into existence:" 

 

The yarn at the right is Alchemy Bamboo in Teal Tide, which I hope will become a wonderful top in the not-so-distant future.  When it does, I will have just the right jewelry to wear with it!