Beading Babes November project

Karyn White, who writes Releases by Rufydoof, hosts Beading Babes, an online beading group.  We ended up choosing two projects for November.  The first was Sleek in Silver by Hatsumi Oshitani. It was printed in the October/November 2011 issue of Beadwork.

I started the month with high hopes and I was eager to dig into the Sleek in Silver project. One thing I discovered, though, is that the designer knows best. Hatsumi Oshitani called for 8x10mm briolettes. I had a hard time finding that size in a color I liked, so I ordered 15mm tiger's eye briolettes. This was bad idea #1.  The 15mm briolettes were way too big and jumbled together.  Lucky for all of us, I didn't grab a photo.

Bad idea #2 was to use dagger beads. These were just a bit too "pointy." Again, I didn't think to grab a picture.  Luckily, I stumbled upon these wonderful potato pearls. (Honestly, I love pearls.  I think they belong in everything.)  The pearls were the right size, and, while not exactly briolettes, they worked well.  Here is the result:

I also made a clasp using the tila beads. I found the instructions for the circle on the Miyuki website.

I really loved the the variation on the St. Petersburg stitch. It worked up so quickly and laid so nicely. I have another color of tila beads on hand and may just be trying this again.

Our second project was Earthly Hues by Carol Ohl. It was printed in the August/September 2010 issue of Beadwork. Like most of Carol Ohl's patterns, this worked up quickly.  Lucky for me, I didn't try to play with the size of the beads.  I was able to do this without having to restring anything.

This is a chunky and fun necklace that is really light. It doesn't feel like you are wearing a necklace at all. It's also very easy to dress up or down.

I want to try the variation pictured in Beadwork. I'm thinking black and gold. (It seems I have a rather large "to do" list.)

Be sure to visit Karyn's blog, Releases by Rufydoof, to see what the other participants did.  If you are interested in joining Beading Babes, there is a link on the right side of the blog.

Karyn, thank you for putting this together for us. It was a blast.