Dragonflys with beady eyes

In these dark and dreary days of market crashes, lost savings and wrecked lives, I find relief in making these little knotted dragonflys with beady eyes.


These elusive bugs sure provide an antidote from the toxic problems of the current age and times. Some old sage might have said of them "Blessed be these simple critters with their diaphanous wings, they will give us peace.. ....." oops, sorry, dreamt that one up and just joking, read too much Murakami and Kundera ... heh! heh!

The knot used is the flat knot, sometimes called square knot.The beads used in the eyes are old Chinese and Indonesian glass seedbeads as well as a couple of Venetian whitehearts.

On a more mundane level these dragonflys also make good decorative material for handbags, backpacks, mobile phones and can be used as souvenirs and giftaways.


Or it can be worn on a cord as a pendant.


As these dflys can be made in small sizes I need only use the leftovers and remnant cords from other projects and need not incur extra expense. So they are really fun and free.

Here's a dfly of another kind, from my jade collection.


And not forgetting the real thing from my garden fence. I stalked it the whole morning and finally caught its diaphanous wings !


Oh, here's a bonus ! I spotted another welcome visitor on my fence, -- a red dragonfly.



Finally thanks to Jack Keene http://whatknot.tripod.com/knots/dragon.htm for the online pattern and tutorial on the making of the dragonfly using chinese flat knots.

More groovy, grooved, jade beads

Here are 3 companion beads to the groovy huan/ring in previous post. Purchased on the same trip and cut in the same groovy pattern, I cant help but think they are all from the same era. (Spring and Autumn Period 771-475 BC.) Overall color is also similar though patina, which can never be the same, shows some variation.

So far I have been unable to locate similar looking beads in books, the net, museums or markets which lead me to conclude (rightly or wrongly) that these are "uncommon" beads. Alternatively these beads may be regarded as "unimportant" among China's prodigious artefacts and therefore are never documented. Also, I may be looking in all the wrong places.


The beads are frail and hoary. They are weathered and bleached almost to the bone. But the twisty grooves are still vivid and impressive. The original color beneath the patina is lemony yellow with the usual age-mark magic spirals lightly sketched in the perforations. Each bead measures 3cmx1cm.

I am planning to compose and knot a necklace comprising this family of ring and beads but my bad back is acting up again and for the time being I have to be satisfied with just this short post to muse about them.

Groovy Huan/ Ring

I am not trying to be cute with the header for this post. This ancient Huan

or Ring, to give it its more general name, is really full of grooves. Although Chinese normally describe this kind of pattern as "twisted rope design", some sources have described the spiral patterns as grooves, which I suppose is also correct. I purchased it more than 5 years ago from Shaanxi Province. According to my "research" the "twisted rope" carving style of this Ring ornament can be dated to to Spring and Autumn Period 771-475 BC.

The jade has been altered and is completely covered with a beige patina. It is no longer jade like. But still fascinating nevertheless. The patina is like a piece of crepe which engulfs the whole Ring whilst inside the grooves a regular pattern of ridges (?) or maybe should I say crinkles or wrinkles can be seen? O dear don't know whether this is the correct description or if I am making sense! I dont know all the correct terms and would never make a good curator. Sigh !But please look at the picture to have a clearer idea of what I am driving at.



There is also iron rust marks on the one side of the Ring.

I speculate that the "ridges" visible in the grooves represent the tool marks on the original surface of the jade Ring. This Ring is also very well made with the grooves almost precision carved. The patina, the ancient toolmarks of grinding and the beautifully cut grooves all make this an unforgettable piece of artwork. Ahem, these are just my personal observations and ideas and and I have no hard facts to back up my story !

On a more serious note, there is a report about a paper * that delves into how groovy Ring ornaments, similar to mine, were created 2,500 years ago using compound machines. According to Harvard graduate Peter Lu "the spiral patterns on the small rings are Archimedes' spirals, which he believes are the oldest evidence of the use of compound machines." in China. He has even conducted an experiment to prove his controversial view.

O, the wonder of Chinese civilization, and their wonderful early inventions and works of art !

*http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn5103(for those who wish read about the theory )