Learning to Bead

I love learning new things! The possibilities are so exciting, the materials are so beautiful, and the stimulation of learning something new makes my brain so happy!

I recently visited a friend. While we talked I crocheted and she beaded. I was fascinated. So I went home and looked through a bunch of beading ideas on Pinterest and came across this tutorial from Sonysree. Since this was a new activity for me I wanted to use materials I had rather than buying new. I wasn’t sure if I would love the process or not, and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on materials only to have those materials sit in a box for the next few years. I had seed beads and larger round beads that went together well enough, so I got started.

I had trouble getting the beads to string nicely on my needle, so I switched to a flosser for most of the beading, and it worked surprisingly well!

I made the bracelet with nylon thread from my stash, but when I tried it on it was rather floppy. By this time I had learned more about thread materials, so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some Fireline and a large eye beading needle. Then I cut the bracelet apart and put it back together again.

With the bracelet re-strung I added a clasp and then made some matching earrings for good measure. Gunmetal/silver is not really my colour, so I boxed the set up for a future birthday or holiday.

I really enjoyed the process of making this bracelet, and I went out and bought some more beads for another project right away! Stay tuned for more beadwork!

I Knit a Bracelet

I bought Laura Nelkin’s Ribband pattern some time ago. I started a project following the pattern, but found the knitting to be quite fiddly, so I frogged it and set it aside.

As I looked through the Ribband projects on Ravelry I saw one that appeared to be done in Stockinette that I liked the look of. So I knit my bracelet in Stockinette, and I love how it came out.

Sometimes you need to work smarter, not harder.