February 20, 2011

What's on Your Hook?

This is what’s on my desk to crochet a row, or two, while I wait for a very slow Internet to catch up. I’ve got a lot that needs to be done, but some of the parts I need are stuck in the Post Office until Tuesday.

It's a gray, overcast day here in Tombstone AZ. It feels like rain, however rain in the desert is iffy. It can rain a mile away, but never reach where you are. I'm in waiting mode: waiting for beads to arrive, waiting to see if it will rain, waiting to see if I feel like sweeping the sand off of the floors .... just contemplating having a lazy Sunday in general.


I’m playing with beads that are not seed beads and liking the results very much. The brownish beads are sandstone heshi. They crochet up into nice, neat tiles in a tube. I have a cross drilled sandstone center piece that these go with. No crayon bright colors, just the muted rock colors of the desert floor. If you've not tried crocheted ropes with different shaped bead, you should do so. You can get some very pleasing results.


The other piece is done with matte black long Magatamas. I bought some last fall and have strung several test pieces to see how they worked. It took several trials to get them to lay right as these beads are quite directional.

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This orange toothed triangular rope is one of the pattern ideas in my last book. Here, the random orientation of the Magatamas worked great as a Halloween bracelet.

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If you want a more ordered look, you need to pay strict attention to stringing the Magatamas all in the same direction. The black one was done with nickel 8/0's and gives a nice curve to the rope. I have some ideas for a Medieval-looking bracelet with this iteration.
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This is what Bev, No Easy Beads, did with this stringing pattern. Now I just need to finish up my bracelet and publish the stringing table for it. Be aware that the Magatamas are not the easiest thing to crochet. They want to fold themselves into the center of the rope if you're not careful.

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So..... what's on your hook?

Have you tried any beads other than seed beads? If you have, send me a photo and I'll post some ideas of working with unusual beads in bead crochet.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous6:22 PM

    Love your bracelet, it is fabulous. It has a very neat feeling.

    ReplyDelete