Learning something new

This morning I woke up with Ross again. I got ready and headed out the door just before 9 to drive out to Petaling Jaya for my first beading class. Although the traffic was bad, particularly on Tun Razak, I managed to get there on time. I registered and then went into the classroom where one lady was already waiting.

Our instructor Hester was there also and a lady called Margaret who I assume is the owner of Beadazzle. Another lady turned up not long after I did and then we got started. Hester gave us our tools and asked us to pick out the colours of the beads that we wanted for our first project.

The first thing that we were making was a floating necklace using plastic pearls and nylon string. Hester taught us how to knot the string properly and then thread the beads. We made the necklace with three strands and alternated the order of the beads on each strand so that when they hung together there would not be a group all the same colour.

We were then taught how to finish the necklace properly with crimp beads, oyster callets and a lobster claw. It was a little fiddy but easy enough. I used different sizes and shades of silver pearls (see photo). Although it's not really my style of jewellery, I know that a lot of people like the floating necklaces. I could imagine combining many more strands and making a really chunky necklace.

Our second project was a weaving project this time using acrylic bicone beads and bugle beads again with nylon string. This one was a bit more fiddly as the string was an uneven length and also the bugle beads are tiny. However, it did give it a really good effect and once we weaved the 'wings' down the sides, I can imagine it as a nice bracelet to wear out.

I finished the projects early and left just before 12 although the class went on until 12.30. I drove home and when I arrived Ross was there to meet me for lunch. We had a quick lunch together before I took him back to the office. In the afternoon, I tried to make another bracelet like the one we made in the class to make sure I knew how to do it. Although I didn't have exactly the same materials, I managed to use what I had to make a bracelet (without the wings). I also worked out how to combine the beads to make diagonal stripes rather than the pattern we did in class.

I didn't do too much for the rest of the day except hang out with the cats and watch some TV. Ross came home early and we had a quick dinner of pommegrate and feta salad before driving out to the driving range at KDE for a bit of practice.

Out at the range, we ran into our instructor Eric and booked in for a lesson with him on Saturday. Ross and I each got 100 balls and set about hitting them into the lake. This was the first time I was using the clubs that our friend Mark had sent me from China. They were a bit heavier than the ones I had been practicing with but I did ok. Not great, but ok especially considering I hadn't done anything for over 4 weeks.

On the way home we stopped at Great Eastern Mall for a coffee and shared a piece of cheesecake before heading home. A good day.