Saturday, January 28, 2017

Taming the Beaded Beast

Lately, I've been packing a 'bag-o-beads' with me whenever I am away for the weekend or on vacation. I find that there is always downtime. Whether that is a lazy morning with a cup of tea or late afternoon waiting for the family to assemble for the evening. That is the perfect time for me to get lost in stitching. Just feeling the beads in my hands and relaxing.

On my recent trip to Mexico I was practicing a Cellini spiral (or as I like to call it a Bernini). There is something freeing about a stitch that has troubled you for so long; when something just clicks and it feels like you've unlocked its secrets. For this one, once I realized it was just a simple peyote stitch it no longer seemed so complicated. After I had the first couple of rows in place, I would just slip a pencil or thin pen into the center of the beadwork and follow the peyote around in a circle. 

There was one other thing that saved me many times from pulling out the beadwork. Because this is a twisted pattern (yes in oh so many ways) you can lose count on what bead size or color comes next. Just remember that the bead you are coming out of is the bead you are adding next. After that, it became a lazy stitch in my hands.

15 comments:

  1. So beautiful! My mom always carries her knitting with her for downtime and I tend to bring a book. =)

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  2. Your Cellini's came out perfectly! Beginning is always the hardest for me. Like you said, once you get it going it's easy. I'm so glad your beads are coming with you. Giving them a chance to travel and experience being worked on in different places probably makes them very happy.

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  3. Your Bernini spirals are wonderful, weaving is so relaxing and this spiral in particular once you get it is just fantastic to work on.

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  4. Hi Cynthia,
    I love this stich it is one of my favorites. I agree it was frustrating at first mine got thrown up against the wall many times before the light went on in my brain and then it was a breeze. Yours are all beautiful I love the colors in all of them.
    Therese

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  5. Lovely! I like how you made them into necklaces. What a conversation piece!

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  6. Beautiful, and I love the color and also love when things finally click and become fun and easy.

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  7. Beautiful work Cynthia! I love the colors. The spiral is very cool.

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  8. I can hear the ocean in your beautiful Bernini. The ease you now feel with it is evident. When it clicks, it is hard to stop :-)

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  9. The twist is simply amazing! Beautiful color combinations too!

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  10. I remember doing my first (and last:)) Cellini bracelet at the beginning of my beading path - I really challenged myself at that time. What you've written in your post of what you should remember making Cellini 'that the bead you are coming out of is the bead you are adding next' is in fact the best recipe to deal with this stitch/pattern. Congratulations on managing so many pieces. I'm impressed. Have a nice weekend:))

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