Seafish jewellery set

Occassionally I take a detour from knitting into jewellery making - only very simple stuff.

This weekend was one of those occassions. At this time of year, when summer is just around the corner (although you wouldn't know it from the weather here at the moment), I always start thinking of the sea, and its creatures. I have a bit of a fascination with marine creatures and life, especially starfish and shells. They seem magical to me. I used to love collecting sea shells on the beach on family holidays as a kid (I still do it now if I get the chance!). Those sea shells washed up and empty seemed so mysterious, symbols of an unknown world that we can never do more than glimpse.

So, after a visit to my favourite Covent Garden bead shop on Friday, I had the materials for a couple of simple silver necklaces and a pair of earrings. Here's what I have so far:

 

As you can see these are very simple really - all I had to do was thread the pearls onto a silver head pin, and then turn and wrap the end of the wire to make a loop and secure it so that I could use a jump ring to thread it onto a length of silver chain, or the loop for the fish hook earrings. It seemed appropriate to cluster the pearls and charms togther for a charm necklace - almost like they've been washed up together in a rock pool or on the tide line. However, the loop which the necklace chain threads through is large enough so that I can slip the charms individually off the chain, so I can mix and match depending on my mood. I have a second chain which I can use to thread some of the charms onto, so I could layer 2 necklaces together if I wanted to.