Peanuts! Get Your Peanut (Beads) Here!

I've been playing around with Peanut Beads, and just finished this double spiral bracelet:

Purple and Pink Double Spiral Bracelet by Sweet Freedom Designs

Purple and Pink Double Spiral Bracelet by Sweet Freedom Designs

 detail, Purple and Pink Double Spiral Bracelet by Sweet Freedom Designs

I capped the rope with some of my own enameled beads, in matching purple, then added a sterling silver toggle.

This is actually the 3rd bracelet I've made using Peanuts this week (and the 7th bracelet I've woven this week - very productive week!), but the other bracelets I made were patterns from bead mags, so this is the first one I've made without following someone else's directions. [In addition to Peanut beads, I have a LOT of new shaped beads in the shop, and have been madly working up various patterns to show customers how to use these fun beads. If you guys want to see what I've been stitching, let me know in the comments, and I'll take some photos and get a post up!]

I'm really loving this double spiral bracelet, for a couple of reasons.
1) It's gorgeous! I love the colors, and I love the textures the peanuts impart. Lots of fun!
2) This marks my first successful double spiral! Way back in 2012, I made a quite a few stabs at getting the double spiral into my repertoire - and 2 blog posts: Here, and here. Now that I have dared to try it again, I realize that all my problems and anguish 2 years ago were NOT the fault of the directions I was trying to follow -- the problem was that I was trying to work too many sizes and colors of beads into my double spiral.

I have made hundred of single spirals, and always use different sizes, shapes, and colors in the pattern. I love to mix up the colors and textures, and often end up with very chunky spiral ropes, which I love. Here are just a few (I swear!):

So, enough about my sordid past with spirals - back to the double spiral. Obviously (at least, NOW it is obvious to me), the secret to a successful double spiral is to limit your colors to TWO, and keep your bead sizes fairly similar. Too much business in either color or texture makes the double-ness and the spiral pattern disappear.

Can't wait to explore more variations, different bead types, etc.! I may even try a triple spiral!

And the purple and pink double spiral bracelet is available in my Etsy shop!

Return to the Worktable

I'm posting a follow-up to yesterday's Wednesday Worktable post about the double spiral.

Let's put it this way - it was a learning experience.

Here are a couple of pics of my "finished" double spiral from yesterday:

Looks remarkably similar to the pics from yesterday, right?

But it's not! There are 2 (TWO!) more loops on this sample than on the ones from yesterday.

I don't know if you can tell from the pics, especially the 2nd pic above, but the core of this double spiral is extremely tight and inflexible. Wow - look how the spiral stands up, all on its own, in that first pic: it is stiff! I knew it was tight when I left it on Tuesday evening, because I had tried (unsuccessfully) for 10 minutes to get the needle into the core before giving up.

Yesterday, I spent 20 minutes trying to get the needle into the core, and finally succeeded. Yay! I added a loop, and spent another 20 minutes trying to maneuver the needle into the core - and made it. Then, came to my senses and gave up, because there was no way I was going to make an entire necklace if I had to spend 20 minutes on each pass. Plus, eventually the needle's going to break under that much pressure!

I decided to switch to a size 6/0 for the core (the tutorial had recommended either a 6/0 or an 8/0). I picked some more seed beads - subbing in an 8/0 for two of the 11/0s in the loop, because I didn't like the look of going directly from the 6/0 in the core to an 11/0 on the loop. I like to make more gradual changes in the bead sizes in my spirals.

I stitched up about an inch or so, and could have easily finished a rope - except that the 6/0 core, while it was plenty roomy, made the spiral too large for the design I had in mind, plus the loops were not as tightly compacted as on the 8/0 core, so I didn't really care for it.

Here is what I was doing on the original piece - which is exactly what the tutorial called for, by the way (and I add that for those of you that know me, and my propensity for deviating away from the beads recommended in tutorials, in order to suit my aesthetics!) -

8/0 core - 4 beads per loop
7 11/0 seed beads on each loop

OK - I lied. I used 6 11/0s and one 8/0 (in the middle) for each loop - but this could not, in any way, affect the core.

So for those of you that are familiar with double spirals - what beads did you use for the core and the loops?
I'm really curious, because I like the result I was getting with the 8/0 core - such a nice, dense spiral. I would love to make one, if I can figure out the bead sizes that will work AND please my picky aesthetic!

Yesterday was certainly not a loss - I would have stopped my stitching without finishing anyway, because I wasn't thrilled with that root beer colored 8/0 in the middle of the loop. It went great with the focal I was going to hang from the rope, but it just detracted from the design.

Drop me some comments - I'd love to hear from successful double spiralers!

Wednesday Worktable

I am a beadweaver, to the core. Love those tiny seed beads!

My first exposure to beading was a beadweaving class, and I fell in love. Spirals are my very favorite, but I love all the stitches. Although I probably won't be doing any twisted tubular herringbone again - a little too tedious and boring for me. But that's in the past.

I always turn to beadweaving when I find myself in a creative rut - I buy tutorials, or I leaf through the thousands of patterns and pics I have stored meticulously in various 3 inch binders - I just love starting with piles of pretty glass seed beads, and ending with a beautiful woven work of art!

As I said, I love spirals. The very first stitch I learned was the spiral rope, and I'm still making them.

I have watched someone else make a double spiral, and I found it fascinating. I always meant to try one, but I just never made time for it.

Until yesterday - I printed off a free tutorial I found on the internet, spend entirely too much time picking out (and rejecting) seed bead colors, and finally got started about 5 PM.

I got about 3/4 of an inch stitched before quitting time - Here's another view:

I'm not entirely sold on this combination of colors/design - I'll stitch a little bit more before I decide whether to abandon it and start over. There's a fine line between having not enough stitched to get an idea of how it looks, and continuing to stitch because you think eventually it will start to look ... better. And I am NOT going to cross that line today - I really hope I have committed THAT lesson to memory! If it doesn't look great at 3 inches, it is NEVER going to look great!!

Regarding the double spiral - the particular tutorial I decided to print was just the latest one I had pinned to my Pinterest Jewelry Tutorial Board. I know I have at least 4 different Double Spiral Tutorials on that board, but I didn't spend any time studying them - I was eager to get started. I just grabbed the first one I saw, and took off! I'm not linking to the one I am using because it has several mistakes in it - the author typed right when she meant left, and vice versa - and therefore the text sometimes doesn't match the diagrams. Making it hard for someone doing the stitch for the first time to know whether to go with the words or the pics!

The double spiral is a very tight stitch. The tutorial recommended using an 8/0 or a 6/0 for the core (versus an 11/0) because you have to make so many passes through the core - I chose an 8/0, and am not sure I am going to be able to get all the passes in there!

I haven't got a long enough piece yet to really see the pattern, and so I am not 100% convinced I am doing it correctly.

When it is a bit longer, I'll be able to see whether I like it, and if I don't, I'll hopefully be able to tell whether it's the stitch, or my color choices and design.

So, that's today's worktable - have a great Wednesday!