"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 1-3 May

Having given myself a breather about trying to bead onto the paper clips, I got room in my head for a better idea.

I wasn't having any problem putting the first row of beads on, it was the second row that began to cause problems.
first row


I didn't mind it being a bit frilly, but it was going far too frilly too soon.
 only part way along the plan and already going frilly.

Ah ha! That is the problem!
Why not try this... instead of having a bead between each bead of the first row, skip one or two beads and make a little arch. And so it worked!

no.121


no.122


no.123


The first three days of the month (last week) I had intended to use for getting the combination and sequence of beads right. So, after finally getting the actual design for bead no. 121, I tried the size and sequence on the other two.

Components are to be -
Row 1 - constant bead for one week of May, using a neutral colour.
Row 2 - opaque bead (the rest of the month they will follow the colours of the rainbow each day of the week),
Row 3 - a companion bead of similar colour,
Row 4 - a small accent bead which serves to set everything, holding it together and firming up the work.

Before I did that sequence I thought I'd swap round the opaque (now row 3) and companion bead (now row 4) for no. 122. I was pretty happy with it.

Then when I did no. 123, I found problems. The 2nd row - the opaque beads - requires passing through a few of the beads several times. and so with too many passes a few holes in opaque beads were too narrow. This was hard to tell until you got to the 4th row! and after having to patch in a bead because it broke, I have decided to stick with this order change.

Components will be -
Row 1 - constant bead for one week of May, using a neutral colour.
Row 2 - a companion bead of similar colour to the opaque bead,
Row 3 - opaque bead of rainbow colours
Row 4 - a small accent bead which serves to set everything, holding it together and firming up the work.

Okay, too much information, I know! But if I write it down, I can remember sometime in the future if I need to know.

And also you, dear reader, can realise that there is a bit more to this than just a pot of beads and thread and something to stitch them to!