Circus Bangle ~ String-Along

Julie's Cartwheel with Magatamas

Barbara's Ringmaster

 The String-Along is finished and participants are finishing up their Summer Bangle sets.  There are some beautiful bead and color combinations coming to light.



Julid used Magatamas for her edge beads and it reminds me of an overshot waterwheel. One could come up with some very interesting bangles this way.

Linda's Ringmaster

Roberta's Ringmaster

Terri's Ringmaster

Toni's glowing Ringmaster

The blue and white center pattern gives this a 4th of July Carnival look, doesn't it?
















Linda needed only a partial pattern repeat to size her bangle correctly.  An added patch of solid black gives this a personal touch.














Just great circus colors in Roberta's bangle.















An invisible join is not always the answer.  A well done beaded bead works beautifully here.

















Toni wasn't terribly happy with her colors.... however I love them.  Maybe being in High School in the early 60's when kelly green and dark blue were popular had something to do with this.



Give everybody a big hand as you enjoy their circus colors.

You can crochet your own Circus now
with the pattern set at Bead Patterns.

Shaped Beads in Bead Crochet

I've been doing a Circus Bangle String-Along for the past month using shaped Czech beads on one edge of each bangle.  While I've used most of these beads before, I've never paired them with #10 Delicas and used them one right after the other.  

While all of them worked well, some worked better than others.  Also, different manufacturers will have shaped beads that are slightly different sizes.  If you are going to use beads like this, it makes sense to test or swatch your work before you put a lot effort into making a piece.

Daggers are an almost-work bead. Some of the bases are just enough larger that the tend to flop over instead of standing straight up.  Also, the wide part can be wide enough to touch or overlap, allowing the edge beads to ruffle.  It's not a bad thing, but may not be what you expect.

Drops, the right size drops work beautifully as they have nice pointy bottom edges that fit into the crochet work. However, like daggers, their hips can be wide enough to bump the bead next to it and cause things to ruffle.
Ruffle Fix; modify your pattern to use a smaller bead in between the ruffling beads.
Lentils work beautifully and give your edge a different aspect as they sit sideways.  No problems here at all.
Rizos, a brand new bead on the market, has turned out to be one of my favorite beads for this kind of edge bead design.  They are not big and bold, nor do they come in bright primary colors, but they fit between 10/0 Delicas and stand up beautifully.

Drops in the Circus Cartwheel Bangle

   

Here are examples of how each of the shaped beads work in bead crochet ropes.....  Fun Stuff, no?

Daggers in the Circus Ringmaster Bangle

Lentils in  Circus Balancing Bangle

Rizos in Circus Trapeze Bangle

In a week or so, a pattern set for these Bangles will be on Bead Patterns  

Rizos in Circus Spangle Bangle

Small Town Circus

We went to look at a small local circus because I'm doing a circus themed bead crochet string-along....... Two hours to put it all up and 2 hours to take it all down..... then on to the next small town.  
4/20 - Safford, AZ
4/21 - Bisbee, AZ
4/22 - St. David, AZ
4/23 - Douglas, AZ
4/24 - Marana, AZ
4/25 - Eloy, AZ







For attractions there was a food trailer, two bouncy houses and a pony ride ......  No animals larger than a horse and I didn't see any evidence of the bird/pigeon act - The cotton candy machine wasn't working and there were no sideshows to be seen.
























If one wanted to go RV'ing with a job, then joining a small circus might be the way to go.  Four hours setup/tear down + two one-hour shows and drive to the next town......

What do you think?

Circus Bangle ~ Cartwheel

Barbara's Balloon Wheel

The first bangle bracelet is called Cart Wheel after the painted wagon wheels of the antique circus.

Everyone in the String-Along group has been so busy that it would take me forever to describe all of the examples.  Let me say that the color and bead combinations are just fantastic.   Enjoy looking at all of these possibilities.

Fran's Version #1

Some of the edge beads have overly large hips and ruffle.  They need to be alternated with something a bit smaller.

Linda's Bangle

Marlene's Circus

Susan K's Cotton Candy

Toni's Cutie Pie

Barbara W's Bright Lights

Betty's Bangle

Betty's Bright Bangle

Terri's Lentil Bangle

Bette's Bangle