Bead Soup Reveal!
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010Well, it is time to reveal our treasures from the Bead Soup Party! My bead swap partner is Janeen and her blog is Wild Vanilla Designs. You can visit all of the entries by clicking here
Here are the beads that Janeen sent to me for the swap. 
From her description, it seems like she was originally thinking about make a bracelet from these gorgeous beads, until she decided to send them to me for the swap. The focal bead is from Loot! where you can find many unique pieces of recycled glass jewelry. Great site and worth checking out. I love bracelets, so the first thing I thought about was making a bracelet, and even went about starting a three-strand design. However, while tinkering with these beads, I suddenly thought about crocheting the beads into a necklace using fine gauge wire.
I have done several pieces with bead crochet, but have never used wire, so this was a new experience. I just love the colors she sent me, and she had no way to know that these colors match my eyes! So much the better! I had several types of small gauge wire, and ended up using 28 ga silver wire from Michael’s. I also had some 30 and 32 ga wire, but was afraid of breaking it while crocheting the larger beads into the design. I purposely made it loose and asymmetrical. The result is an eye-catching necklace that I immediately had to wear to work so I could see if anyone noticed it. Needless to say–there were lots of great comments and inquiries as to how I actually crocheted the beads into the design.
If you haven’t done any bead crochet, the trickiest thing is that you have to first string all the beads onto the (or cord–whatever you are using). It is difficult to add beads later since you really have to end the strand you are working on and start a new one (just like when you run out of yarn while crocheting or knitting). However, Janeen had sent a good amount of beads, so I strung them rather randomly onto the wire. I first did a crocheted chain, including one bead for every 2 or three stitches. Then, when I thought it was long enough, I turned around and did another chain through the first chain stitches—still including a bead every 2-3 stitches. Somehow the number of beads worked out great, and I was very happy with the results. I also crocheted the silver clasp onto the ends of the necklace so it is fully incorporated.
I love this necklace and have worn it three times last week! The wire can be stretched out or squished together, depending on the look that you want. Thanks to Janeen for these wonderful beads! Now I’m going to see what everyone else has made—many thanks to Lori for organizing this event.
