Forest Spores

I have had an interest in artful knotting for quite sometime. I remember when I was a little kiddo back at school, one of the art projects was to create a Chinese knot hanging charm on which hung a painted porcelain bead or a miniature wooden gourd. After that incident, I had only tied simple overhand knots and such to create simple necklaces or bag charms. I never expected to try out a full-blown necklace with knotwork until the oppotunity to read off a bunch of instructions came along. This is a project I copied off a beading magazine. I did make some modifications to the length and scale of the bits and overall necklace, as well as using more personally appealing materials, but the knotting pattern was unchanged.

Since this is my first time trying out full-scale Macrame, it goes without saying that it is not perfect. I would best describe the knots as...well, sub-standard. The front of the knotted area in the centrepiece looks alright but the back is a bit of a mess, and you can tell I actually missed knotting a few cords at some points (clumsy me). The knots that precede the clasp are also very untidy. Nevertheless, I adore it and so does my colleague at work.

Most of all, I am quite satisfied with the so-called 'random' effect of the chrysoprase beads that run along the length of the necklace. Humans have a tendency towards definite symmetry and patterns, so it is sometimes very frustrating to someone who wants a natural, 'random' effect. I solved this problem by 'cheating' my mind. Instead of concentrating on the location of each bead, I aimed to achieve a sort of loose balance on both sides of the necklace. It's hard to explain, but it works very well once you understand it. The end result is a very convincing simulation of randomness, but if you study the piece closely, you may notice the 'randomness' is still governed by a pattern, albeit a very vague one that is hard to detect. Well, I guess nature, despite seeming random, it too, follows a pattern. Otherwise leaves, crystals and limbs would be deformed.

I am somewhat perplexed by the assortment of materials that I have ended up using to fabricate the necklace. The most expensive component is not the centrepiece, as the case would be for most other works. It's the chrysoprase beads, standing at over $110 Singapore per strand of about sixty beads if not for the 30% discount. It's a very good strand of chrysoprase, because of their clarity. I showed them to the owner of another bead store in order to locate a cord that would fit into the drillhole, and she also knew they must have cost alot. The Bi centrepiece is just ordinary Aventurine that was less than $7. But what does price matter if they go well together? I was also looking for the nylon Chinese knotting cord to make this necklace -the kind where you put the end of the cord to a flame so that it will melt in and seal itself- but I couldn't find any thin enough to go through the Chrysoprase. So I ended up using waxed cotton, which 'fires' just fine as well thanks to the wax coating. Finally, I topped off the piece with a small brown Jadeite Bi to serve as the clasp. The overall effect is remniscent of the rainforest, and perculiarly enough, reminded me of spores, hence the title.