The summer of bead crochet ropes

I've declared this the summer of bead crochet ropes.  Or rather the summer I learned how to do bead crochet ropes!  I've loved bead crochet ropes for a long time, but I never learned how to make them.  I've seen beautiful necklaces and bracelets created by bead artists and I really wanted to make my own.  I'd always heard that it was difficult to master and it took patience.  Patience isn't my strong suit, but I could do a lot of other things with needles and hooks, why not this?  And, I could do flat bead crochet.  That didn't interest me.  It had to be the ropes. 

I never set aside time to learn until this winter.  With 70 inches of snow on the ground what  else was there to do?!?  Well, I got out the books and some size 6 beads and crochet cotton.  I was starting in kindergarten with the fat crayons and pencils.  But, no matter how many times I started and ripped out I never seemed to be able to get the beads to look the way they were supposed to.  I would walk away and then go back to it a few days later.  But, nothing seemed to work.  I tried using a knitting needle as a support for the first few rounds, because as with most things, the first few rounds are the most challenging.  Didn't help!  Well, the snow melted and the weather improved and the garden beckoned.  Bead crochet ropes were put aside for the time being.  If winter brought us snow, summer has brought us heat!  Like 104 degrees for two or three days at a time! More time inside and less time in the garden.  Time to revisit bead crochet ropes.  And, I decided to make a real commitment to learning it.  So, one day I sat down with all my books, beads and a hook.  I followed the suggestion to use at least three colors of beads, and I had my trusty knitting needle with me should I need the support.  I was ready.  And, once again I had problems.  I walked away for a couple of hours, but this time I went back to it  that afternoon rather then days later.  I  began by rereading all the directions from the beginning.  And, finally I realized my biggest problem.  I didn't position the working thread in the correct place.  It needs to come over the bead that your working into!  I started again, and wonder of wonders, it worked!!  I decided to work on it everyday until I felt comfortable with it and could graduate from kindergarten to first grade.  After a few days, I realized I needed to work on a bracelet because I could only crochet and rip out and crochet again the same  short piece for so long before I would go stark raving mad!  So, I gathered  three colors of beads I love and started a bracelet.  This is the result.

I was very, very pleased!  It took a while to complete but the finished product was wearable and looked like it was supposed to look!  I decided to start another one so I wouldn't lose the momentum, or forget what I was doing.  This time I decided to be brave and I used size 8 beads with a size 6 thrown in for comfort!  And, this is the result of that effort.

Once again I was pleased with the bracelet.  And the best part is that as I worked on it I could feel myself becoming more relaxed and comfortable with the technique.  It didn't take as long and I did less ripping back! 

After these efforts I think I can safely say that I know how to make bead crochet ropes.  I'm certainly not a whiz at it, but I'm going to continue my travels through elementary school, and as the summer progresses I hope to graduate from 8th grade with a project done with size 11's and top stitching thread.  You know, like the big kids!

Hope you have a wonderful day.  Thanks for stopping by.