I have been beadweaving for a little more than 3 years. I started out by teaching myself the spiral rope stitch. I made a few necklaces as Christmas presents, and by then I was truly hooked. I found a really fabulous book "The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving" by Carolyn Wilcox Wells, and learned the stitches one by one; peyote, herringbone, netting, brick, ladder and of course, the spiral rope. I also found a wealth of information on the internet - stitch techniques as well as patterns for each stitch. I love the beads I use for weaving. Seed beads. Teeny tiny little critters......some so tiny they look like glitter, but all in a gorgeous rainbow of colors and finishes. This blog is my journey through the creative process- the stitch, the pattern, the colors and the sizes of beads - from spark to finished product. I will outline the technical aspects of the stich as well as the idea of the design - with tips and hints I pick up along the way.This project will start with three colors of beads, each one size larger than the other, in colors that I feel blend/contrast well with each other, as well as the IDEA of a stitch. It's relatively straight forward - even count peyote made to look sculptural by using different sized beads, starting with the smallest bead then gradually increasing to the largest and then back down to the smallest. I will make this a bracelet. I chose a matte gold colored size 11/0 seed beads; gold lined light aqua size 8/0 seed beads and bright aqua size 6/0 seed beads. I will be using Nymo D (off the cone - IMHO more durable and less prone to fraying than off the bobbin) and a size 12 beading needle.
