Native Stripes - British colors

One of the members of the latest string-along lives in England. She commented that all of the color palettes from Central and South American textiles were so foreign to her. That made me stop and think.




When I think of England and colors, two things come to mind: Celtic blue war paint and Liberty of London fabrics. There was a time when I'd have given anything to be able to afford all of the Liberty prints I wanted. Could you call them native? To people who sew, they are native to England, and they are textiles.

ABOVE: 1933 Liberty print- great rich colors in darker hues.
Click color selection photos to see them larger.




Here's a 1970's Liberty print - Fresh, lighter color scheme








The only two keys that I'm using for this string-along are: native + textiles. My personal interpretation comes from childhood and Chilean textiles from the high Andes. Your interpretation will be different than mine. This project is about patterns and the use of lots of small patterns in a bead crochet rope lariat. It can be done in my exact colors, or interpreted in your colors.

I've used Big Huge Labs color generator to pull these color selections.

Native Stripes - Dec. 11 Registration

click here for more information

Watch this space for open registration for Native Stripes, String-Along.

Sunday December 11, 2011

Starting at

12 noon MST or GMT -7.00

We're going to start by considering colors. What colors do you

associate with Native Textiles?

Native Stripes - String~Along

Get Ready for January 1st 2012
This is the next String-Along that I've been promising. It will be a 60" lariat with optional peyote bands and fringe beads. It can be crocheted in either 8/0 or 11/0 seed beads. I will be using 8/0 Czech seed beads.

The form and shape will be like this crayon bright lariat that I made in 2006.


Click Here for a PDF informational sheet.

Native Stripes will draw inspiration from my Chilean childhood. The Altiplano region of Chile, Bolivia and Peru produces beautiful textiles in bright bold colors. These are knitted or woven on narrow backstrap looms. The narrow fabric bands can be filled with many interesting small decorative motifs. I have a notebook from the early 1960's of designs that I saw. I will try and translate some of them into the fabric of a 6-around bead crocheted rope. Many small patterns will be interspersed with bands of beadsoup or a background color. This will be a very eclectic, many small patterned rope

I know that many of you are in the middle of holiday beading and family things. However, I wanted to give everybody enough time to think about the project and possible color combinations before actually starting the project. You can do my colors, or research and chose your own colors. Native can mean anything from these Chilean textiles to Navajo blankets, or textiles from any country.



Sign-ups will open December 11th and close when all spaces are filled or on December 31st, whichever comes first. Once you register for the String-Along, you will receive an email with all the information on material requirements and choosing your colors. The first pattern section will go out Jan. 1st, via email.

Beading on the road

Driving the back roads, through small towns and visiting local thrift stores
turns up some real treasures. I found this man's beaded wallet in Oklahoma for $5. You can see that the beadwork was hand applied over a store-bought leather wallet - neatly, but not professionally. It has some wear at the fold, but is a beautiful example of someones beading labor.

The center design would make a great bracelet design.


I'm fortunate to be able to bead crochet in the car, however I didn't prepare enough to keep me busy the whole trip. I finished my 3rd Urban Stripes necklace. It's only a single length as I ran out of the gray background beads. I like the bead color, but I don't think I'll buy any more for quite awhile.

I looked all over the East for these #10 Bell Ends for ball chain and couldn't find them. I remembered seeing them at a hardware store here in AZ. I had to make a small detour when making the first pantry re-supply trip and sure enough, they were still there. I bought all of the nickle ones and a few of the brass ones. I'm going to use them as bead caps (with a short chain between) on the 3rd Urban Stripes necklace. They fit perfectly over a 6-around 8/0 rope and have an industrial look that I think will work perfectly.


I tested some colors in 8/0 seed beads for the Native Stripes String-Along. Doesn't it fit right in with the colors on the wallet? I have an older necklace done in the same Czech beads, size 11/0 and I'm now sure that the designs will work for either size. Now I can pull together the stuff to do the next one in January. Be forewarned, this will be a paid String-Along Workshop.



I finished the trip working on this bracelet that had been lurking in my traveling case for a year now. The daggers are difficult to hang onto while crocheting and I can't put up with more than a little bit at a time. It is going to be a heavy, but oh-so-supple feeling bracelet when done.... almost a decadent feeling piece.


Now I have to finish putting the road weary beads away and get enough chaos out on the work table to feel like getting back to beading. I have a to-do list that seems a mile long and am wondering how to fit it all into my 6 months here in Arizona.