Rondelles Continued

I had a photo all planned out of this pen and the other six rondelles that I removed when I put on the lampwork bead created by my friend, Diane Schulz, Houston lampworker extraordinaire. But, I have spent the last hour looking for those other beads and cannot find them anywhere. The fun thing is that I found a lot of "stuff" I haven't seen in a long time and some I completely forgot I had.

Anyway, I took the beads off the pen so you can actually see them. The rondelles on the pen are made with two rows of delicas, one row of 8/0s, one row of 4mm bicones, another row of 8/0s and finished with the two rows of delicas. Easy and quick to make.

I know the start to all of my beads--putting on twice the number of the tube, bringing the needle around and taking it through every other bead until you reach the last two when you take the needle through these seems awkward at first. Here's the reason: when you make a standard start of putting on twice the number of beads, tying them in a circle, putting on a bead and skipping a bead all the way around, you create three rows of peyote, and I only want two. I also hate working against a knot and this method yields a very tight circle. I usually go through the last row a second time and pull it very tight before I finish off my thread.

Here's a rondelle that makes a nice flower or bead to use instead of a button for a closure. This one is constructed of four bead rounds, beginning with the usual 8 beads and through every other one. There are four rounds of 5/0 Miyuki triangles, and the bead is finished with two rounds of seed beads. I love these triangles which Barry (Caravan Beads) lists as "rococo." They positively look like they're lit from within. Tomorrow I'll show you two necklaces I've made with these beads.