Fresh Shop: WhatKnotShop

So glad to be actually following up on doing this Fresh Shop series (I usually make all kinds of grand plans and never follow through :((

Today's featured shop is

WhatNotShop 

 
I am not quite sure how and when I stumbled across the blog that "owner, designer, maker, curator, design, make, market, sell, ship, lather, rinse, repeat" artist George Hutchinson writes. I know I started following it because he had shared an absolutely wonderful tutorial for making, what he calls "Fiber Art Bracelet". That's what the blog is all about: Turks Head Knot Bracelets and Contemporary Fiber Bracelets

This is what the tutorial taught:

 I have to say, I had never anything quite like this. Rustic and beautiful. I explored the blog, and followed it to the shop. And I pretty much dropped dead. Ok, I didn't really die, but you know what I mean ;-)

I think George is simply in love with cord. I am too, but I don't really know what to do beyond loving it ;-) Whereas George has converted all kind of cording into works of art. He dyes the cord in his kitchen and his laundry room is full of dye solutions. He even makes his own dye from natural materials like black walnuts that he harvests from a neighborhood tree. There is mathematics, chemistry, art, all going on at once in his studio!

His fascination started with Turks Head Knots, and my absolute favorites in his shop are these ombre ones. Yummilicious!

He started off with these, and started collecting the cut-off ends..which led to the most gorgeous bracelets. Ever!
This is what he says about his Design Series of bracelets:
"The design series of bracelets is inspired by traditional cultural ornamentation from remote tribal villages brought to the screen by National Geographic and many other photographers. The apparently unselfconscious expressions of these people speaks to our inner child in playful ways. The designs are fascinating"

I agree. Absolutely fascinating! So much that I ended up buying this while researching his shop for this post

I loved a lot of things in the shop, but what helped me narrow down my search was the size. He does them in 3 sizes, small, medium and large, and the dimensions are very clearly explained in the listing, leaving no confusion in the customer's mind.

The main reason I decided to feature this shop over a few others I had shortlisted is that George shares so much of his knowledge on his blog. It is easy (ok, not toooo easy) to be talented and good at what you do, but what makes the difference is being humble about the talent and the willingness to share!

Since George does not really know I am kind of, sort of, stalking his shop, I will stop. I will go let him know about this post and hope he visits.

Here's another one that I really like (but I do believe I snagged the best piece, muahahaha, no buyer's remorse here!)

EDITED TO ADD:

George just sent me to his other shop on Zibbet, and there is a LOT more fun stuff there...like this

and this

Such gorgeous colors....swoooon!