Bead Crochet Necklace

I've finished my first bead crochet necklace.  I wanted it to be a choker, so it's about 16.5 inches in length.  I'm really pleased with the results.  I used size 8 hex beads in colors I love.  I have a lot of size 8 hex beads that I buy from my friend

Leslie.  I make reversible knitted bead cuffs with them, and I use them in my freeform beadweaving also.  I love the way the light reflects off of those angles!  This combination happened to be sitting on my work table and I thought it would make a wonderful fall necklace.  I call it Burnished Olives.  I had been trying to decide what I was going to do next for a bead crochet project.  I wanted to make a necklace and these colors spoke to me.  Of course, this means that I'm finally moving out of my summer color mode and into fall colors, which is a sure sign that the seasons are getting ready to change.  I'm very affected by the changing seasons, both with the colors I wear, and the colors I work with.  But, more on that at another time. 

I always try to think about what the closure will look like when I begin a piece of jewelry, and I try to use different techniques.  I'd been wanting to use a magnetic clasp covered with a peyote tube and this was my chance to do that.  I like the ease of a magnetic clasp, but I don't think they're very attractive all by themselves. 

I used copper size 8 seed beads and made a peyote tube.  I did a picot edge with size 11's in colors that coordinated with the hex beads.  I then did a picot stitch down the middle of the the tube using the same 11's.  I wrapped it around the necklace and zipped it  closed.  It moves out of the way when  I want to put the necklace on.  I'm really pleased with the results and I think it's going to become one of my favorite fall necklaces.  Of course, I say that all the time about the newest necklace, bracelet or pair of earrings I've made!

Here are some close ups of the closure. 

 

I hope you have a wonderful day, and thanks for stopping by and sharing your time with me.

More Freeform Beadwork

This bracelet isn't new, but I'm making a necklace to go with it and I decided to take some pictures of the bracelet the other day.  I worked the freeform peyote a little differently for this piece.  Instead of stringing beads of different sizes and shapes and working off of that, I strung some 11's and then a 10mm crystal, and then some more 11's.  On the return row I worked freeform peyote for the 11's and skipped the crystals.  From there I began doing freeform along the row, creating bridges and using a variety of beads and crystals.  I love the crystal bicones I used for the bracelet.  They are some of the specially coated Swarovski that I found at my friend Kathy's store, Bead Soup.  They are called Rosaline.  That name is so pretty that I'm calling the bracelet the same!  The button is another dichroic from my friend Terrie.

Here are some other views of the bracelet.  Enjoy!  I'll post pictures of the necklace when it's finished. 

   

Freeform, Summer Melons

I've been gone from the blog for quite a while.  My daughter and I have spent the last several weeks creating costumes for a show written and directed by a very dear friend of hers.  We have done this for several summers now, Carrie designing, and both of us building the costumes, and it's always enjoyable.  The entire production is a family affair with many of the same actors, techies and volunteers coming back year after year to help get these plays on the stage successfully.  But, this past weekend was the opening and our work has morphed from making to managing the costumes backstage.  So, I'm able to return to what passes for normal in my life! 

While we were working on costumes I would take a few minutes here and there to work on a new freeform necklace I had started several weeks ago.  I had put a tease on the blog thinking it would be finished long before now.  I call it Summer Melons and you can see why.

I love the colors.  If you look closely you can see a square element that I incorporated into the beadwork.  It's a hand painted plastic piece from a company called My Elements.  They have a wonderful assortment of pieces in bright colors that can be used in all sorts of ways.  I decided to try them in freeform.  By beading over and under them the pieces became part of the beadwork.  And, they were the jumping off point for my colors.  The finished necklace reminds me of melons!   Here are a couple more closeups of the finished necklace.

It's a fun summer necklace with it's mother of pearl beads, lucite flowers, and fringe coming off parts of the beadwork.  I'm happy I finished it while there's still some summer left so I can enjoy wearing it.  

I hope you're enjoying your summer.  Thanks for sharing you time with me. 

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.

More from the garden

One of the reasons I love summer is the garden and sharing it with friends.  So, here are just two of the daylilies that are blooming right now.  Hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I do!

When I'm not working in the garden,  I'm beading.  I've come to realize that beading is mostly what I do now.  If I use fiber or fabric at all, beads are involved with it.  So, what I'm working on when it's too hot to be outside is this...

It's another free form necklace.   I'll tell you more about it when it's completed.  But, I love working with these colors.  They're so summery and fun.  I keep thinking of melons! 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful summer day and that you take time to enjoy it.

Something different

I've been playing around with something that's new to me, kumihimo.   I had been interested in kumihimo for many years.  When the braiding technique first became popular in the U.S. the woman who owned a yarn shop in the area began offering classes.  She also sold the equipment to create the braids.  I always thought I would take a class, but the cost of the equipment was steep and I kept putting it off.  Eventually, she sold her shop and the new owner didn't get involved with kumihimo.  Fast forward several years and a very inexpensive foam disk for creating kumihimo braids appeared on the market.  I had seen it at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival for two or three years but I never bought one.  Finally, last year I broke down and bought starter kit which included the disk, bobbins, and enough ribbon to make one braid, along with detailed instructions.  The vendor who sold the kits,  Oak Grove Studio, also had kits for kumihimo necklaces and bracelets made with ribbon and beads.  Well, I had to have one!  I mean they had beads included!   I made the basic braid with the ribbon and liked the process.  The disk made it very easy to figure out and it was very portable.  But, I didn't work on the necklace kit until last month.  What really spurred me on was that I bought another necklace kit at Sheep and Wool this year!  I wasn't going to let a little detail like not working on the first one stop me!  But, I thought I really should try making one of the kits.  I began with the kit I bought this year.  It used hand dyed silk thread that was comparable to # 5 perle cotton, and the new long magatama beads.   This is the result.

The kit directions had you braid about 6 inches plain and then begin adding the beads.  There was enough in the kit for a necklace and bracelet.  Well, I was hooked.  Once the beads are strung on the thread the whole thing is so portable.  I could braid out on the patio, out on our back porch, anywhere!  And, I thought it looked great. 

I loved the way the smooth braid erupted into a cluster of beads.  The bracelet has very little plain braid, just enough to allow the end caps to go on easily.

Well, I immediately decided I had to make the kit from last year.  This kit had two types of beads and a beautiful nylon knitting ribbon.  I decided I loved the ribbon color and the purple beads, but I didn't like the other beads that were included in the kit.    The pattern for this necklace was  plain braid with clusters of beads every two inches.  I didn't have enough purple beads to use them alone, so I decided to make it the same way I did the first one.  The beads in this kit were size 6 round seed beads, and the purple ones were silver lined, frosted beads, which I think are so beautiful.  I once saw this finish referred to as "ghost" beads.  

 I really love the finished necklace.

Well, of course I was hooked big time now!  I happened across directions on the Interweave Beading Daily newsletter for a bracelet done with wire and beads.   I was intrigued.  How would it be to braid with wire instead of yarn or thread? Had to try it!  I really loved using the wire.  I used 26 gauge Artistic wire in turquoise with size 6 seed beads.  I thought the wire would be too stiff, or would damage the disk, but it worked like a dream.  This is the wire/bead bracelet.

Kumihimo is now  a permanent part of my jewelry making repertoire.  I can see a lot of uses for it in mixed media pieces and on its own.  It's a lot of fun to do, it doesn't take a lot of time to create a necklace or a bracelet and it's so portable once the beads are strung.  Great fun!

Thanks for visiting today.  Hope your day is a good one.

The Transformation Completed

As I posted a few days ago, I decided to remake this necklace.  I had never been happy with it even though I always got compliments when I wore it. 

One of the things I liked least about the necklace was the string of beads that the triangles were suspended from, so I started with that.  The original necklace was cream colored size 11 Delicas, size 8 hex beads, and 4mm cubes strung in a pattern.  I liked the cream color with the summery colors of the triangles.  So, I decided to stitch a spiral rope, one of my favorite stitches, out of the same Delicas and the same  hex beads.  I eliminated the cubes.  I think it makes a more substantial looking necklace.  Then I auditioned several ways of attaching the triangles.  This is the result.

I decided to make chains of triangles.  I used the hex beads to attach the triangles together and then used a hex bead to attach the string to the spiral rope. 

Here you can see the rope and the attachment of the triangles.  I had spent several weeks last year making the triangles after seeing an article in Beadwork magazine's December 2008/January 2009 issue about Phyllis Dintenfass and her geometric beadwork.  The project offered to go along with the article featured these triangles.  I love geometric beadwork so I pulled out some beads and started making triangles.  One triangle led to another triangle!  Each one is a different color on each side.  So, this necklace is actually reversible, which is very cool,  I think! 

I'm happy with the reworked necklace.  I think I'll enjoy wearing it more than I did before.  In fact, I think I'll wear it today, just for fun!

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you have a wonderful and creative day.

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