Goldwork Heart I

This piece is an ANG group correspondence course that was discontinued last October. A few of the ladies in my chapter wanted to try it, so we signed up for this and Heart II before they became unavailable. Eventually, we may sign up for the third in the series, now available from ANG. The designer/teacher is Michele Roberts.

The only thing I changed from the original was the use of two pieces of "bright check purl" joining the scrolls at the bottom. The original only used one, and I thought it looked lonely with just one!

This is an example of trying a new technique. I had not done any goldwork before trying this, though some previous projects had called for some bits of metal (not metallic) threads.

While many of you may be familiar with the distinction, I can hear a few of you thinking - what's the difference between metal and metallic threads?

• Essentially, metallic threads are primarily synthetic materials, like polyester, made to shine like metal. You are probably very familiar with metallic threads. They come in forms like Kreinik braids, Rainbow Gallery Treasure Braid, DMC metallic floss, etc.
  
• To be labeled as metal, threads must contain some percentage of real metal. There are different grades of metal threads, depending on the amount of metal content.
  

Kreinik has more information about metal and metallic threads. To read a bit about some of the available metal threads typically used in goldwork, check out Tanja Berlin's notes on the subject.

If you're curious about goldwork, there are a few designers online who offer beginner's kits. One word of caution - I have not seen these kits or instructions, so cannot say anything about their completeness, but these ladies are well-respected teachers, so they must be doing something right! Check out the goldwork sections of the websites of:

• Alison Cole (make sure you go to the bottom of the page to see all 7 pages!)
  
• Tanja Berlin

In my searching while writing this post, I came across another blog with a great post on goldwork. Rather than repeat a lot of what she said, I recommend checking out the Needle 'N Thread blog.