Motif #16

Motif 16 was supposed to be a earring. Somewhere along the line it evolved into a flower and finally a book mark.


I made it a point this time to write down instructions as I went along.

I worked this motif with 2 shuttles using CTM.

50 beads (36 for the pattern + how many ever for the tail) in SHUTTLE 1.
36 beads (22 for the pattern + how many ever for the tail) in SHUTTLE 2.

RING 1: With SHUTTLE 1 form a ring sliding 3 beads in the ring thread (5ds, slide in a bead and make a picot) 3 times, 5ds close ring. Slide a bead close to the base of the ring just formed.

RING 2: With SHUTTLE 1 form a ring sliding 2 beads in the ring thread 5ds, join to the 3rd picot of the prev. ring, (5ds, 1 picot with a bead in it) 2 times, 5ds close ring. Slide a bead close to the base of the ring just formed.

RINGS 3-5: SAME AS RING 2

RING 6: is a split ring and also the 1st split ring in this design.

SR1 - With SHUTTLE 1, 5ds join to the 3rd picot of Ring 5. 5ds/ SHUTTLE 2 - slide 1 bead close to the base of Ring 1, 5ds, join to the 1st picot of Ring 1, 5ds, close ring.

SR2: With SHUTTLE 1, Slide 6 beads close to the base of SR1. Form a ring sliding 1 bead in the ring thread, 5ds, picot with a bead in it, 5ds / With SHUTTLE 2 Slide 6 beads close to the base of SR1, 5ds picot with a bead in it 5ds, close ring.

SR 3-9: Same as SR2 - slide just 1 bead close to the base of the prev SR instead of 6.

Slide all the remaining beads close to the last SR cut and tie.

NOTE: For each extra SR with beads you need 2 extra beads on each Shuttle. While you should have a bead in the ring thread for the first half of the SR, the bead remains in the shuttle thread itsel for the second half.

Motif #15 - Beaded Bookmark

Here is another beaded bookmark. 
I've always wondered how to get beads into rings - we usually see beads in picots.
I tried and the result is what you see here.

I got a few beads into the ring. I realised after sliding the beads from the ring thread close to the ds that a length of shuttle thread was bare. So I slid in the same number of beads from the shuttle thread before making the next ds.

Looking at the bookmark now, I wonder if maybe I should have used 1 bead less for the inner ring formed by the shuttle thread.


The pattern itself is very simple - just the basic rings and chains.


I have written down the instructions for working the basic ring and chain with beads - the rest, I am yet to write down.

Ring: 12 beads in ring thread and 12 beads in the shuttle thread.
[1ds, slide 3 beads from the ring thread and 3 beads from the shuttle thread close to the ds, 1ds, p] 3 times, 1 ds. slide 3 beads each from the ring and the shuttle threads close to the ds, p 1ds, close ring, rw - the extra p at the end is to join the chain to the base of the ring when working chains on the other side of the rings.

Chain: 8 beads each in ball and shuttle threads. * 1 ds slide 4 beads each from ball and shuttle threads close to the ds, 1 ds, * p, rep from * to * rw.

Bead Count:
- for 1 ring - 24 beads - 12 in the ring thread and 12 in the shuttle thread.
- for 1 chain - 16 beads - 8 in the ball thread and 8 in the shuttle thread.

Criical comments on this pattern, and any pointing out of mistakes will be apprec

Posting Other People's content

I had a nasty shock today while browsing the web. I found some of the contents from my Kasuti tutorial copied and posted word for word in another blog and the author was passing it off as her own. There is no possibility of her having copied the contents from the same book I have copied it from as my husband first reasoned - because Whatever I have posted is from my personal notes taken over 15 years of teaching embroidery.

My husband and sons had smug smiles on their faces and if any one of them had said, "I told you so." I would have smacked them. Their constant nagging about other people copying content was one of the reasons why I did not continue the tutorial. Their main concern was the amount of time and effort I was putting into it.

I never worried about copyrights before because thus far I've always found people stumbling on interesting blogs referring readers or directing them to the said blog.
Simply speaking, I never felt the need.

Now it looks like I have to water mark my tutorials and look into copy rights.

Crochet Coin Purse

When I started this project, it was supposed to be a drawstring purse for my aunt.


When my little niece saw it, she asked, "Are you making this coin bag for me? "




So I made a front flap and my mom attached a macrame handle and it became her coin bag.

The scans are not so good and I can't make fresh scans as I don't have the bag.