Learning About Garnets

Here's a photo of my table with it's new longer legs. The artist who added them to the table has a unique way of building things. He's very creative and imaginative. His work is all around Spanish Village, in the form of benchs and planter boxes. I'm hoping I can work at my table again soon. I'll be in the Village tomorrow, but I'm going to work in one of the other studios. So my own will remain closed for now. But soon I'll be sitting out there.

I finished the knotted necklace I started when I was up in Los Angeles. I wasn't sure what stone it was until tonight when I was looking for hessonite garnets on the internet. Most of us think of the deep red garnets that were popular in the Victorian Era. But they are only one of many types. Garnets are red (and pink), orange, yellow, or green. The hessonite ones range from pale butterscotch to dark brown. I found some little rectangular ones at one bead supplier and bought four strands. I also picked up three strands of a butterscotch stone that were not marked. They told me the stones are garnets and I think the ones in the knotted necklace I finished tonight are as well. Hessonite comes from a Greek word and means lesser, but in this case it means less hard, not necessarily inferior. Currently they come from Sri Lanka.

Even though I hold strands of stones up together when I plan a necklace, I always have at least some visual surprise when I actually begin to construct the necklace or other piece of jewelry. After I finished the knotted necklace, I started one of red garnets and small butterscotch ovals. The two different types of garnets look lovely together. In fact, the red garnets look lovely in lots of places you might not suspect. I've vowed to always keep a few different strands of them around for combining with other stones.