Beaded Flowers

I took a break from knitting today and decided to do a little bead work.  This is a kit from Beadcats called Festive Flower that I've had in my stash for a couple of years.  Of course I modified it.  It was intended to be a pin, but I had some filigree that provided a perfect base for it.  I've always been fascinated by the chains of office that I've seen in paintings from Tudor England and I've wanted to make a variation on them with beaded flowers mounted on filigree.  As a prototype I am pretty happy with it, although I need to work on the construction technique a little.

I also want to play with the colors.  The colors that came with the kit don't really show off the structure.  I'll also have to buy some more filigree.  I only have two pieces of this particular design.  I bought a bunch of filigree at Bead & Button one year just to have a variety in my stash.

Materials (numbers are Beadcats stock numbers):
Seed beads
2-14-234-71:  Size 14/0 dark red silver-lined irid
2-11-225-71:  Size 11/0 bright red silver-lined irid
2-08-228-71: Size 8/0 red silver-lined irid
2-06-228-71:  Size 6/0 red silver-lined irid
Pressed glass
N-LA-840-01:  pressed glass leaves, dk topaz transparent
Lampwork
L·X1·839·00:  topaz transparent Radiolara
 

The Holly and the Ivy

After finishing up the Chevron Chain I cranked out the St. Petersburg Chain in a day.  Then I started joining the two chains together, or zipping them together as I quickly came to think of it.

I started out with the Emerald beads but they got lost in all the green are gold.   Next I tried the Sapphire beads, but they lacked something.   Out of desperation I tried some pearls but they were too big.   That left the Garnet beads.   They were the right size and they definitely did not get lost against the green and gold, but it just seemed a little clichéd.   In the end, however, I went with the Garnet, and decided to embrace the Christmas theme as being seasonally appropriate.

Project:  Royal Chains Lariat by Kelly Wiese, Beadwork Magazine October/November 2009

Materials used:
Size 11 seed beads:  Beadcats stock # 2-11-480-01 topaz transparent irid
Size 11 seed beads:  Beadcats stock # 2-11-577-01 medium green transparent irid
Size 14 seed beads:  Beadcats stock # 2-14-577-01 medium green transparent irid
3 mm Emerald gemstone spherical beads
3 mm Garnet gemstone spherical beads
Faceted tube and rondelle Citrine gemstones
Bicone Citrine gemstones
Light green KO thread

I purchased the Emerald and Garnet gemstone beads at the Bead & Button Show and the Citrine gemstones from Soft Flex.

Emerald and Gold - Chevron Chain Done

I had done about 8 inches of the chevron chain before losing steam, but this afternoon I picked it back up and finished it up, all 28 inches of it.  It has been a while since I have done any beading but I am a bit fibered out at the moment, and perhaps handling all of my beadwork this past weekend to photograph it got me back in the mood to bead.

Project:  Royal Chains Lariat by Kelly Wiese, Beadwork Magazine October/November 2009

Materials used so far:
Size 11 seed beads:  Beadcats stock # 2-11-480-01 topaz transparent irid
Size 14 seed beads:  Beadcats stock # 2-14-577-01 medium green transparent irid
3 mm Emerald spherical beads
Faceted tube and rondelle Citrine
Light green KO thread

The project called for vertically drilled pressed glass drops, but I didn't have anything in my stash that would work, so I am using the Citrine tubes and rondelles

Emerald and Gold

The whole reason I started making the purple and gold chevron chain was because I wanted to make the Royal Chains Lariat by Kelly Wiese from the October/November 2009 issue of Beadwork Magazine.  The pattern calls for 3 mm crystal pearls, but I don't do crystals.  I do, however, happen to have some small gemstone beads.  Originally I was going to use my amethyst gemstone beads, but after working on the purple and gold chevron chain I realized that the amethyst gemstone beads were too large (they are about 5 mm in diameter), so I went back to my gemstone stash and came out with 3 possibilities: garnet, emerald or  sapphire gemstone beads.  I put some of each in my beading dish and went back to my seed bead stash to find matching seed beads.  It turned out that the emerald gemstone beads were the easiest to match.

Project:  Royal Chains Lariat by Kelly Wiese, October/November 2009 Beadwork Magazine
Materials:
Chevron chain:
size 12 seed beads (Beadcats stock # 2-11-480-01 topaz transparent irid)
size 14 seed beads (Beadcats stock # 2-14-577-01 medium green transparent irid)
Green KO Thread

Isis II - All I need now is a clasp

I already have a necklace that I named Isis, but this one really reminds me of Isis, with the amethyst drop fringe evocative of the feathers from the winged Isis figure.  I thought about naming it after Nefertiti, but it just didn't feel right, so I decided to go with Isis II.  I don't really have a good clasp for the necklace though, I don't have much in gold and I wanted something fairly substantial.  I ordered a couple from A Grain of Sand.

Materials:
Amethyst gemstone (12.44 carat) purchased from Unfinished Creations in Yellow Springs, OH
Amethyst drops purchased from Soft Flex
Gold seed beads (size 14 - no idea of the stock #)
Purple seed beads (size 11 and size 14 - Beadcats stock # 2-11-748-90 and 2-14-749-90 clear lined with cool purple)
Purple delicas (size 11 - Toho Aiko TB-328)
Gold and Purple thread (KO)

Amethyst and Gold - Half a necklace

I wanted to do something dangly under the chevron chain and I happened to have all of these amethyst drops in my gemstone stash so I started fiddling with them this past week.  As I played with different lengths and attachment points I noticed that the drops would not lay flat so I decided to just go with it.  I increased the number of beads on the loops and voila, they naturally twisted and now the fact that the drops won't lay flat is part of the design.  You really just have to go with the materials.  Now I just have to finish the other side, attach the clasp, and come up with a good name for the piece.

Materials:
Amethyst gemstone (12.44 carat) purchased from Unfinished Creations in Yellow Springs, OH
Amethyst drops purchased from Soft Flex
Gold seed beads (size 14 - no idea of the stock #)
Purple seed beads (size 11 and size 14 - Beadcats stock # 2-11-748-90 and 2-14-749-90 clear lined with cool purple)
Purple delicas (size 11 - Toho Aiko TB-328)
Gold and Purple thread (KO)

Amethyst and Gold

Amethyst and Gold seem to be a recurring theme with me.  I started working on the gold and purple chevron chain this past weekend for a different project, but I soon realized that the bead choices that I had made were not going to work for that particular project (more on that later) but I really liked the chevron chain in those colors and wanted to do something with it.  My first thought was to use it as a foundation chain for a beaded collar, but I really didn't have any bugles that would go with those colors.  I let the chain sit on my beading table for a few days and pondered my bead and semi-precious stone stash.  Then yesterday I wore my Victorian Parfait necklace with my Japanese Maple pullover to work and as I was sitting at my desk fondling the focal bead it occurred to me that I really like those close-fitting necklaces where the focal bead rests in that little hollow at the base of your neck, and then I thought about an amethyst that I had bought while I was in Yellow Springs back in October and a design idea was born.

When I came home from work yesterday I pulled out the amethyst and went in search of delicas to bead a bezel around it.  As luck would have it I happened to have some Aiko delicas in the perfect purple that matched the stone exactly.  So last night I beaded a bezel around the amethyst.  It was a non-trivial task, considering the shape of the stone, but I started out with the modified right angle weave that Kate McKinnon has pioneered and am pleased with the results.  Now back to the chevron chain.

Materials:
Amethyst gemstone (12.44 carat) purchased from Unfinished Creations in Yellow Springs, OH
Gold seed beads (size 14 - no idea of the stock #)
Purple seed beads (size 11 - Beadcats stock # 2-11-748-90 clear lined with cool purple)
Purple delicas (size 11 - Toho Aiko TB-328)
Gold and Purple thread (KO)

Arabesque

I recently received a copy of Japanese Beadwork with Sonoko Nozue published by Lark Crafts.  I actually have met Sonoko because of my sister (co-owner of Beadcats) and like the Japanese aesthetic.  The book had been sitting in my stack waiting to be shelved, and when I was sorting the stack the other day I accidentally put it in the pile of knitting books.  When I spotted it later I pulled it out and flipped through it and decided to do some beading.  This necklace is my take on the first project in the book.  The project is titled Cheerful Midafternoon and is more muted in the color choices.  Here are the beads called for:

Size 11 triangle beads
Size 11 3-cut beads
Czech lily beads (5 or 6 mm)
Size 15 beads
Bicones (5 mm)

The project called for 3-cut beads, and I have plenty in my stash, most acquired when I was first getting into beading some 30 years ago now and was attracted to the glitter, but I wanted something different so I pulled a bag of iridescent beads out of my stash.  I am pretty sure that they are size 11, and they are probably Czech.  They have no stock number on them, but they are dark purple with glints of peach, teal, green and gold.  For the triangle beads I selected lavender transparent with teal luster finish.  I have a fairly decent selection of bicones and I pulled out both teal and peach, and ended up going with the teal.  The only beads that I did not have in my stash were the Czech lilies.  The ones that Beadcats offers are a bit bigger than the ones used in the pattern.  I ordered both peach and lavender.  They came yesterday so this morning when I got up I started on the necklace.

The necklace is built up in layers.  First the lavender lilies, then the peach lilies.  Here is an in progress shot.  you can see my work table.  It is a folding TV dinner table.  We use them in the booth at Bead & Button and one year I forgot them so I had to buy more, which meant that I now have extras which have found their way into the house and into use.  I have my little folding Ott light and my watercolor trays for my beads.  After you finish with the second layer of lilies the instructions call for you to add the picots and join them, finishing up with the bicones.  I decided to work my way up through the layers and did the bicones next.  It really stabilized the piece and I think it made adding the picots easier.

After finishing up the bicones I added the picots.  When it came time to join the picots the pattern actually varies the number of beads between each picot.  I decided to use the same number of beads (I settled on 7 based upon a quick calculation of finished length) and I also decided to string them on Soft Flex instead of beading thread and used one of the clasps that I picked up at Bead & Button from A Grain of Sand.

Materials:
Size 11 purple iridescent Czech seed beads (< 20 g)
Size 11 triangle beads (34 beads), Beadcats stock #1-11-597-02 (lavender transparent with teal luster finish)
Size 14 seed beads to go with the Czech lilies, Beadcats stock #s 2-14-130-01 (blush pink transparent irid) and 2-14-773-01 (lt lavender transparent irid)
Czech lilies - pressed glass - Beadcats stock #s N-F7-114-00 (darker peach transparent, 66 beads) and N-F7-776-00 (lavender transparent, 33 beads)
Bicones - pressed glass - Beadcats stock # P-R1-594-00 (medium blue-green transparent, 33 beads)
KO thread in purple
Soft Flex 925 Sterling Silver Extreme Flex Metallic Flex Wire (Fine)
Box clasp

Victorian Parfait

The focal bead is another one of the Larry Scott beads that I have bought at Bead & Button.  This one always reminded me of an ice cream parfait and originally I thought I would do something very colorful and maybe a bit silly with it, but then last weekend I was rummaging in my semi-precious stones and decided that I really needed to use some of those garnets that I have been hoarding.  I knew that I wanted to do some embellishment to the strand so I used a size 8 bead in a matching color to space the garnets, knowing that after stringing the garnets on the Soft Flex I would not be able to get a needle through them.  I then used the same size 8 beads and some transparent gold drops to make the netting.  I thought about using some smaller garnets, but they didn't match in color or in reflectivity.  I was going to do another set of netting interlaced with the first set but after trying it I decided that it cluttered up the design too much.  Less is more.

Materials:
Garnets
Size 8 seed beads - Beadcats stock # 2-08-280-91 dark red transparent lined with black, irid
Small drops (4 mm x 6 mm) - Beadcats stock # D-T2-840-00 amber transparent
KO thread in gold
Soft Flex 24k Gold Extreme flex wire (medium)
Gold clasp purchased from the Soft Flex site

Fresh Ink Cardigan - Update

I did manage to get a little knitting done during Bead & Button.  Saturday (June 9) was so slow, that I vowed I would bring my knitting on Sunday.  I can get through anything if I have my knitting with me.  I also worked on this cardigan during Meet the Teachers Tuesday night (June 5).  I have just started the body increases.

And just look at this beautiful necklace that my sister Virginia designed and made!  She gave it to me because I had the perfect outfits to wear it with.

It is called Falling Leaves, and she has kits!  They are not listed on their web site, but if you want one just send an email to the Beadcats (order@beadcats.com).  They cost $115 + shipping and come with detailed instructions.  She is working on other colors.

Edelweiss Necklace - Finished

I took a break from knitting today and finished up this necklace.  I had started it a couple of weeks ago, but then had to put it on hold while I awaited delivery of some finer Soft Flex.  This is the Edelweiss Necklace by Melinda Barta in the October/November 2009 issue of Beadwork Magazine.  You might recall that I used the flower element in my Dragon Scale Necklace.  To assemble the necklace I threaded a piece of Soft Flex (0.014 in 925 Sterling Silver) through the herringbone section and then threaded a flower at either end.  On the side with all of the flowers I attached the magnetic clasp.  On the other side I strung 18 pearls.  I then made the six flowers that form the central spine.  I found it easier to thread the pearl onto the Soft Flex before I beaded the flower.  The pattern calls for creating a ladder of delicas and then joining it to form a circle, beading the flower and then placing the finished flower onto the pearl.  Instead I did brick stitch around the pearl and then beaded the flower on the pearl.  Here is a picture of the strand before embellishing.

And here is a picture of the back-side so you can see how I spaced the flowers with delicas.

Then it was just a matter of making more flowers and figuring out the layout.  Threading the Soft Flex through the herringbone section was a little tricky, and it would have been easier if I had done the herringbone around the Soft Flex to begin with, but obviously I was successful, with a little patience and finesse.  I like the fact that the necklace is not suspended on the herringbone section, it seems to lay better.

Materials:
Pearls, about 8mm in diameter

Size 11 Delicas (Beadcats Stock #s):
4-11-463-91 clear-lined w/ rich yellow, irid
4-11-583-14 cool dk green opaque metallic
4-11-127-02 flesh pink transparent luster
Size 14 seed beads:
2-14-127-02 medium pink transparent luster
2-14-463-92 clear-lined w/ rich yellow, luster

And here you can see the power of the Beadcats stock numbering system.  The first digit represents the bead type, so 4 is Delicas, and 2 is seed bead, the next two digits are the size, the next three numbers are the color, and you can see how easy it is to match colors across bead types, and the last two numbers are the glass type and the surface finish.  You can read all about their stock numbering system on their web site.  At this point I have quite a stash, so I often don't buy beads for a project, I just make do with what I have on hand.  It does mean that I sometimes have to be a little more creative in my bead selection, and I often hit on color combinations I might not have otherwise.

In Dreams Mystery Shawl - Clue 1

Last year, Susan Pandorf of Sunflower Designs kicked off her Lord of the Rings knitting project with the Evenstar Mystery Shawl.  Sad to say, the only pattern from the first year (The Fellowship of the Ring) is the Rivendell Smoke Cowl, but I plan to remedy that in the near future.  This year, she is launching the next series (The Two Towers) with the In Dreams Mystery Shawl.  This is Clue 1.  It is already shaping up to be another exquisite pattern.

The yarn is Eos from The Unique Sheep, gradient color way - Eleanora
50% Tussah Silk, 50% Merino
1260 yards in 4 ounce, each gradience skein is 315 yards/1 ounce

Initially I was going to start with the purple, but after thinking about it I decided to go with the blue.

The beads are Beadcats stock no. 2-08-636-91:  lavender transparent lined with marine blue, iridescent.

Working with the Eos is making me want to knit another Evenstar shawl in the Eos that I had bought as one of the possible yarns last year.  I think it would be a lovely shawl in the silk/wool blend, very different than the pure silk that I knit it out of.

Limestone One Skein Shawl

This is the Limestone One Skein Shawl by Michelle Miller, also known as Fickleknitter.  It is knit from Zen Yarn Garden's Serenity 20 yarn (70% Superwash Merino, 20% Cashmere, 10% Nylon) in Mauve Swirl.  I added beads to the edging - Beadcats stock no. 2-06-707-71 purple trans silver-lined, w/ blue irid - but you can't see them in this photo.  This is a small shawl, knit from a fingering weight yarn with approximately 400 yards in 100 grams.  For comparison a lace weight yarn typically has 1200 yards in 100 grams.  What this means from a practical perspective is that this is a quick knit.

And here is another view of the Winter Mystery 2010 Shawl.  You can see the beads in this shot.  The color is not quite right.  I had to use the flash.

Winter Mystery Shawl 2010 - Clue 3 Done

I finished up Clue 3 this morning.  It was a quick and easy knit, not much actual lace work, not many beads, dead simple lace pattern.  I really like this yarn.  I'm going to have to make something with the leftovers, maybe some fingerless mittens, which I think would be very elegant and warm, or a cowl.  I have recently become a convert to the cowl.  They are great when you don't want to wear a scarf but you still need some extra warmth around your neck.  The beads show up well in this photo.  They are white - Beadcats stock number 2-06-012-36 white opal matte irid.

Mystery Shawl 17 - Clue 4

Clue 4 finished.  This one was a bit harder than clues 1-3.  It didn't help that my hormones were being particularly wonky last week causing my brain to randomly shut down.  But I persevered.  Lace knitting is really not that hard provided you take the time to master a few skills:  reading charts, reading your knitting, and counting.  Before I begin each right side row I look at the pattern for that row and see how it fits with the pattern of the preceding rows.  This enables me to use my knitting to help provide me with contextual clues as to what I should be doing.  By understanding the pattern and how it is being formed it is much easier to spot errors before they become too difficult to fix without tinking or ripping.

My most frequent errors are forgetting a yarn over, or putting one in when I shouldn't and both of these are very easy to fix, provided you find them within the next two rows (the wrong side row and the next right side row).  Dropping a stitch or picking one up is simple and blocking will generally remove any resulting unevenness.  Counting is also an essential skill.  I routinely count the knit stitches between the lace motifs, even if there is only one.  Before beginning a chart I will write down the number of knit stitches on the chart for any stretch that contains more than 4 stitches.  I don't use markers, except on circular shawls and then only to mark the beginning of the round.  I find that they get in the way of my reading my knitting.  When I am tired, or for particularly tricky rows I will look back over the knitting (proofread it, so to speak) before beginning the wrong side row to try to catch any mistakes I may have made.  If I spot a missed yarn over I mark the spot with a split ring marker and fix it as I purl back.  Similarly if I put a yarn over in where it doesn't belong.

One slight challenge that I had on this clue was the fact that I ran out of the beads that I was using.  What is worse, I could not get more of that color - yes some beads have dye lots, just like yarn.  Fortunately I had some that were in a similar color and I had enough of the original color to get to a spot in the pattern where switching colors would not look out of place and one could even say it was intentional.  One thing that I deliberately do is not plan my projects too carefully.  I like the fun and challenge of improvising with my materials.  Fortunately I have a large enough stash of beads and fiber that I can do that.  Here is a close up of the color switch.

The top two beads are slight lighter in color than the rest.  Almost the exact color of the yarn, in fact.

The bag of beads on top is the original color, the one on bottom is the new color.  In the Beadcats universe they are stock numbers 2-08-154-90 and 2-08-152-90, respectively.  I really love the second bead color and have to figure out something to make with them.  They have just the most wonderful pearly sheen to them.

Sea Turtle Necklace - Finished

I finished up the Sea Turtle Necklace this afternoon.  I ended up using a button with a sand dollar design on it for the clasp.  It is a very simple technique.  Just attach the button with a loop of beads to hide the thread and on the other end make a loop of beads just large enough to fit over the button and embellish with a picot edge.

Sea Turtle

I picked up this sweet little lamp-work sea turtle last year at the Bead & Button show and it has been sitting in my bead stash waiting to be turned into a necklace.  I wanted something simple, so I picked some pretty colors and started a spiral stitch.  I was originally going to use the spiral strand with another lamp-work bead, but it seemed better suited for the turtle.  I still need to figure out the clasp.

Materials used (Beadcats stock no,):
2-11-552-00 - size 11 seed beads, dark grass green transparent
2-11-119-91 - size 11 seed beads, amber lined w/ rose, iridescent
D-34-112-90 - 3.4mm Japanese drops, lt amber transparent, lined w/ peach
KO Beading Thread in gold

Bead Stash Organized!

Earlier this month I ordered a Best Craft Organizer Cabinet for my beads. It came this past Thursday (May 21) and I put it together that evening in about an hour. Assembly was straight forward and I did not need any help. The boxes that the cabinets came in are fairly heavy (almost 30 pounds) and are a little bulky. I actually unpacked them in the front hall and then carried the different parts down. I got the double cabinet, which stands a little less than 4 feet tall.

Starting Saturday morning I began organizing my bead stash. This consisted primarily of pawing through the plastic boxes and pulling out all beads of the same type. I started with the seed beads, organizing from largest to smallest, then the bugle beads and the pressed glass. Once I had the pile of bead bags I sorted them into color groups and then ordered them from lightest to darkest. This ordering was facilitated by the Beadcats numbering system. They have a numbering system that, once you learn it, tells you the type of bead, the color, the glass type (opaque, transparent, etc.) and the finish (iridescent, matte, luster, etc.). The really neat thing about their numbering system is that you can match bead colors and finishes across all of their different bead types. Great when you're doing projects with different kinds of beads. The sorting process was hindered a little by my cat Jasmine, who likes to steal bags of beads (and who can blame her).


I didn't quite manage to fit all of my beads into the cabinet. I still have 9 plastic boxes but that is much better than the 27 boxes that I started with. Seven of those boxes hold loose beads, which I wasn't planning on putting in the cabinet anyway. The other 2 boxes hold my tiny tear drops.

I am still cataloging my stash, another task made easier by the Beadcats stock numbering system, and my Fujitsu Stylistic (you can read my review of my stylistic here). The only challenge I have is that I bought some size 14 beads before they had instituted their system, so I'm going to have to make up my own numbers for those. Fortunately, the system makes that pretty straight forward.