Summer Elements Blog Hop - Freeform Micro Macrame Necklace

My friend, Rita of Toltec Jewels and Jewel School Friends is hosting a blog hop celebrating summer, and anyone who knows me, knows summer is my thing.  I love the long days and the green trees and I love the warmth.  I'd have summer all year long if somebody would give me the option.  Rita challenged us to consider the elements of summer; Air, Water, Fire, Earth and Spirit; and then create something and share.  Create anything and share anything that celebrates summer.  My kind of hop!  

We bought a pool years ago when the children were still pretty young and we've spent endless hours there as a family.  I treasure the memories of every one of those hours, and this is one of my favorite photos of my husband and kids.

It doesn't seem that long ago that I took this picture, but my daughter is seventeen now and my son is a father himself!  I had my grandson out in the back yard the other day and he was fascinated by the movement of the water.  I started studying it and found I was pretty entertained by the endless kaleidoscope of patterns, too.   I took my inspiration from the that and made my first piece of free-form macrame.

I just started knotting and putting in some random beads, letting the piece wander wherever it wanted.  No planning, no tidying up.  Just the cord and the knots going under and around and over like water in a river.  I played off the macrame technique called Margaretenspitze which was developed by Margarete Neumann in the beginning of the 1900s.  She developed the system of adding and dropping threads which allows you to make almost any design - hand tied lace.  Fascinating stuff. 

This necklace took me most of the week to complete.  It sounds odd, but it much more difficult for me to go with the flow.  I'm more comfortable staying within the lines with my macrame.  Oh, sure, I venture out a bit and play with color, but my pieces are usually symmetrical and even and tidy.  This piece is none of those things.  I do have to admit that this exercise was liberating.  My ode to summer.  My study of water.