Look What Happens

.... when you take a workshop and it gets the creative urges going. This is sort of freeform beading as the only idea I started out with was, "this would make a great bead crochet rope tassel."

It all started with a NanC Meinhardt workshop at the Bead Bush Studio.

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I just threw some of my favorite bead colors into a tote and went with the idea of exploring what NanC had to offer. Once I had this sample end underway it kept looking more and more like a great bead crocheted lariat end.

OK, tassel end finished and I'm thinking I need something interesting to transition from rope end to tassel.

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Back to my bead stash to find I have a lot of pale pink Czech fire polish crystals. Rings .... wouldn't a series of rings work as an interesting element between rope and spiral? So I spent an evening, laying in bed, making a series of rings. I was too lazy to get up and see if they fit or not, but had an idea that the smallest might be the right size for a sort-of end cap.

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Here is the smallest to the largest size rings that I made, with several graduated ones in between.

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Now I needed to start on a rope to put it all together. In Bead Crochet, "the last bead strung is the first bead crocheted". This meant that I had to think my necklace design through from the end opposite from the tassel. I needed to start stringing with the middle of the rope and end stringing with the portion that would be the closure end.

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The start of the crocheted rope is a piece in size 11/0 beads that will ultimately be wired in a spiral for a closure along the lines of my Wired Zipper Necklace. The spiral will be in place of the art bead.
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Will the rings work?

Yes, they will. I try fitted them onto the rope to check sizes and colors together. The smallest rings will not slip onto a 6-around, size 11/0 rope and will function as end caps. The other rings will slide onto a rope, stack into an inverted cone shape but, will also have enough slack to move around. So far the colors are all falling into a range that pleases me - sage greens and pinks with hints of amethyst..
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Now I need to finish crocheting the segment that's strung; string about two more segments and put it all together. I'll be stringing 36" to 40+ inches of beads and adding in thread for each section. I'm not quite sure how long this lariat will be as it's still a design as I go piece.

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It would also be interesting to use beaded rings as rope enhancers for a plain bead crocheted rope. These rings are my own netted concoction. However, if you want a great pattern for something similar, check out Nikia Angel's Sparkly Wheels at Bead-Patterns. They are also in the June/July 2010 issue of BeadWork Magazine.