Saturday 12 October 2019

tat a beaded rope

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I wasn't to be distracted - everybody knew. But with friends like this, who needs enemies ;-P
This evil genius sweetly invited a few of us on facebook to put Sue’s suggestion to thread. She’s evil for distracting me, but genius for doing me a favour … I Finally got around to trying my layered/stacked SR bracelet/Kadaa - a first trial I shared in 2015, and it's Christmas tree trunk pattern here.

It took me one entire day of fiddling around (and experimenting), trying to refresh my memory and convert the pattern into a beaded cord. Problem wasn’t in the pattern but the mismatch between beads, crochet hooks/threaders, beading needles, threads, etc. etc. I had started off with finer thread and smaller beads; finally only these larger bicone crystals worked with the size 20 crochet cotton, and a #12 crochet hook. Now it is going smoothly & I’ve found my rhythm. However, Ninetta will be testing it first.

UPDATE : Pattern is shared here. But look out for more on Ninetta's blog.

It did give me a whole new admiration for all the bead-heavy work crafters do. Reminded me of Jane McLellan's numerous crochet beaded ropes that she seems to belt out at such rapid pace.  

A few Experiments and NOTES 
  • I tried putting beads on the core thread, but they face inside the hollow with thread showing on the outside.
  • I also tried pre-stringing beads. This worked if alternated with picots where rings needed to be attached.  If I had beads on a picot, it was difficult to join since the picot/thread ran horizontal through the bead hole - so a join would become skewed.
  • In the pictured version, I loaded 2 shuttles with only brown crystals (half on each shuttle); the rest were loaded over long picots at the time of joining. This is more practical – no pre-stringing loads of beads, no large shuttle required. However, working a SR can become a bit impractical till one gets a hang of it.

Last night I made a short video of the start.

I haven't tried Ninetta's single shuttle method yet, or the other numerous ways including chains. For another day. But following are a few of my thoughts ....
  
  • Single thread/shuttle versus 2 shuttles
  • Difficulty level - simple rings versus split rings.
  • Pre-stringing beads versus few pre-strung beads (most are loaded on long picot at time of joining).
  • For long project, large shuttle required versus regular shuttles.
  • The cord twists on itself, like a double helix versus beads spiralling around while cord remains ‘straight’.
  • The subsequent rings are ‘rotated’ slightly before being joined below versus emerging out of a split ring with a phase shift.
It will be interesting to try out other methods. In fact there is a lot of evolution these methods might incur. Time, experimenting, and testing will reveal ….

11 comments:

  1. Wonderful distraction, I feel bad cause I am on a distraction trail myself and the got distracted from that and now just which I could try everyone's idea at same time.

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    1. If only we lived parallel lives, Carollyn , then we could indeed try all ideas simultaneously 😄

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  2. Just been reading Ninetta's and Janes blog post and now yours, as I said to Ninetta and Jane I am going to try this. I love the idea of a bracelet

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    1. Will be looking out for your version, Margaret 💜

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  3. Am in a project of learning right now and can't deviate or I won't get it at all and it's needed, so...I will have to try later.
    Yours is totally awesome and I can't wait to try it!! :)

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    1. Much as I'd like to continue exploring and experimenting, I Need to get back to my other pending projects, too, Sue. 😯

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  4. If only we had time to do everything we'd like to do! It looks like you're off to a good start. I hope you find time to continue experimenting!

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    1. Sadly, I'm going to let others carry on the exciting experimentation, Diane. I Really need to be more focused on my path 😄😄😄 But watch out for Nin's post(s) 😉

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  5. I think it’s genius to have the beads on long picots, rather than on the shuttle or even chain thread. I like the bigger beads that give a good balance between thread and beads. I will try this and the other methods, one step at a time.

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    1. Jane, it is practical for a bead-challenged person like I 😄😆😉 But it also makes it more flexible to create beaded rope patterns like the ones you do in crochet without fretting over bead colour and sequence to pre-string. Would love to try a floral pattern next.

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  6. Generic pattern is now shared. One more task crossed off my list 😀🌹🌹🌹

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