Gold and Silver Kumihimo with Long Magatamas

I put the finishing touches on the long Magatama kumihimo necklace this morning:

Gold and Silver Kumihimo necklace with Long Magatamas

As I feared, the long Magatamas made the rope too thick for any of the beadcaps I had readily available, so I set out to make some.

I have hundreds of these little metal floral caps (the bronze one in the center is their natural color) - they enamel beautifully, but lacking any silver or gold enamel, I had to go to plan B. Gilder's paste. Not my favorite: it's messy! I hate mess!

I tried both the silver and the gold Gilder's paste - I really wanted to use silver, but it didn't give a nice shiny finish like the gold, so I went with the gold.

I topped the caps with sterling silver Origami-style beads (I don't know why, but I call these beads "tumbleweeds") and a 5 mm gold round. I added sterling silver chain and a sterling silver S-hook around the back. The chain has a nice open weave, so the necklace is fully adjustable up to 20 inches.

I love how these Magatamas produced a beautiful texture, and a nice spiral.

It's available in my Etsy shop!

Kumihimo Rope with Long Magatamas

Just finished (almost finished)! 5 minutes ago I wove the last long Magatama into this kumihimo rope:

kumihimo rope with long Magatamas

This is the first time I have worked with the long Magatamas. For this rope, I used:

• 400 long Magatamas: 200 in galvanized silver, 200 in galvanized gold (this equals 25.5 grams of each color).
• size 8 Griffin Silk cord.

The resulting rope is 11.5 inches long. So if you're wondering how many Long Magatamas you need for your kumihimo project, there you have it (for an 8-warp braid; I put 50 beads on each warp.)

Now I just need to figure out how to finish it. The Magatamas made the rope pretty thick (although it is light as a feather!). It is not quite as wide as the one I made with the lentil-shaped beads,(although a heck of a lot lighter). Another similarity to the lentils: for the lentil kumihimo rope, you have to take great care to position all the Lentils inthe same direction as you are braiding, or the rope looks wonky, with the Magatamas, you must initially string all of them so they are "pointing" in the same direction. If they are strung properly, they'll pretty much orient themselves correctly as you braid.

Detail:

detail, kumihimo rope with long Magatamas

I need to do some beadweaving projects with the long Magatamas before I decide whether I like them. I don't dislike them at this point, they are just OK. Though they really added great texture to this kumihimo!

But don't get me started on the Superduos - my current passion! I love those little two-holed beads. So far, I have only made one project with them (a necklace/earring set) - but I can't wait to do more. They fascinate me!

reversible bracelet/earrings made with Czech Superduos

[This reversible bracelet/earring project is featured in the August, 2013 Bead & Button.]