It's A Gift

It's truly a gift to be able to spend an evening with beads, needle, thread and Fresh Air on my computer, and to approach bedtime with a satisfaction so palpable there's a smile on my lips in spite of there being no one to see it.

Yes, I'm well aware that two of the causes of my happiness are unfinished necklaces, and three are funny little beaded beads for which I have no real plans, but their impact is real nonetheless.

I photographed every step of the construction of the beaded beads for my class two weeks from today (and I do hope it's not cancelled as I think it'll be fun), which is somehow for me the hurdle part of beading instructions. Once I have satisfactory pictures, actually writing step by step directions is cake.

The two not-quite necklaces are the same stitch, both experiments in scale. I'd previously made this chain using size elevens, but a couple of broken threads of a hank of alabaster size eights made the decision for me.

While I readily admire colour schemes which include contrasts, my desire is strongest for tone-on-tone. The picture doesn't show it well (when it's finished I'll try to put it on a grey background), but the white almost-necklace is (even if do say so myself, but really I'm referring to the colour not necessarily the construction) lovely, with matte glowing white beads recessed in the rope and clear iridescent beads popping out on the corners. I want to separate all my beads into matte-and-shiny pairs now. Actually, I always want to do that.

The green necklace with drops and leaves is even chunkier, based on size six beads. A few months ago I had one of my many moments of weakness at the bead store, unable to resist half a dozen tubes of size six seed beads, even though I have very limited uses for them.

They were pretty!

While their size makes the inclusion of the drops and little leaves feasible, since the height of the holes of all the beads is comparable, the scale of the sixes has overstepped the bounds of my aesthetic. I don't love this stitch in sixes, but it's a fun necklace and I'll complete it anyway.

Besides, the purpose of experimentation is knowledge acquisition, so in that I was successful.