Saturday, January 21, 2012

Before and After

BEFORE:


AFTER:

Yes, you read that right.

The top pic is a peyote bracelet I designed and began stitching this week. I loved the 3 colors of green and blue Delicas I put together, but as I stitched, I noticed there just wasn't enough contrast between the 3 colors to allow the geometric pattern to be visible .... except with very specific lighting conditions.

I noticed this after stitching less than an inch, but (and I have made this mistake before!) I thought that maybe if I kept stitching, the more beads I added, and the longer it got, the more visible the colors would be.

WRONG. And I have witnesses, too - under normal room lighting, it just looked like a greenish blue strip of peyote.

So once I had 4 inches stitched, I let it sit for 2 days, and kept looking at it in different lighting, and even with my Optivisor, but the colors still didn't show. So I finally tore it apart and separated the Delicas (fun!) and re-tubed them and put them away.

But I decided to photograph the bracelet before I ripped it up, and imagine my surprise when the photographs showed the colors perfectly. Don't believe those lying photos!!

I have selected 3 new colors for the pattern, and will get started on this one again soon.

A true beadweaver can't be afraid to rip stuff up, right?

2 comments:

Christine Altmiller said...

No, she can't but she CAN scream as she does! Looking forward to seeing the second one. The picture of the first is great, but trust your gut.

Maggie said...

It's kind of like me and knitting. I knit my niece an infinity cowl that I knew just needed to be longer, but kept going. Finished it only to rip out countless hours and start again. In the end, I'm so happy I did and as I know you will be with your beautiful beadwork. No fear!