Sunday, October 3, 2010
New Spiral Stitch
I really like the spiral herringbone stitch but it takes too long with size 11 beads and is a little dramatic and thick for size 6 beads.  The Russian spiral takes less thread (not going around all the beads multile times) and creates a medium spiral that I really like.  It took awhile to figure out the pattern.  I guess counting to 3 is beyond my abilities some days.  That's all it is, counting to 3.  Once I could see the pattern it worked and went well.  I still have to pay close attention the first two or three rounds but once I get going I can "see" where the next stitch needs to go.  Quite a lovely little stitch.  It has a springy action as well, so will work well as a bangle.  I've only gotten a few bracelets done as I just learned it Friday night and I had a lot of things going on this weekend besides jewelry making.  The herringbone doesn't require full concentration so it's a good tv project but this stitch is a little more attention demanding.  I like it though.  I bought a lot of combinations of seed beads in size 6 and size 10/11 and am looking forward to experimenting with a lot of colors.  It's amazing how much a difference one little switch can make.  For example, I used size 6 aqua sead beads with size 11 crystal seed beads and it reminds me of christimas, the blue looking like a frozen lake and the crystal looking like tinsel winding between the ice.  Used the same aqua beads with a deep, sapphire blue size 11 and it's a whole different flavor.  The aqua doesn't even look like it's the same bead.  I'll post a picture soon.  I had finished up the herringbone spirals in what I thought looked like a nice, finished way and then I tried bead caps and boy does that give it a completed look.  It's not easy finding those though, they have to be deep enough and be a style I like.  Will look for me.