TUTORIAL- Celtic Knots Part 2: Rings Rosettes and Beaded Beads

Since 2004, I've enjoyed making all kinds of beaded beads, but I have to say, these knotted ones are a little different from all the rest.

Each beaded bead knot is made from one long strip of seed beads, woven together into a circular knot.  They're a little bit soft and squishy while at the same time holding their shape.  I usually prefer my beaded beads to be rigid, but with these beaded beads, I like them flexible. 

I also like that the holes are large, so you can string these beaded beads on cord, matched with lampwork beads.  I can't tell you how long it took me to assemble this mere two inches of beads, but it was longer than I'd like to admit. In the end, I like this simple little necklace a lot.  Small, subtle, but with lots of interest, texture and detail.

So do you want to learn how to make knotted beaded beads?  Well, you're in luck.  I have a tutorial that will teach you how to braid pieces of beadwork into knotted beaded beads.

These knots are quite flexible, literally and figuratively! You can turn them inside out. They can be worn as finger rings, and since I explain how to make them in a ton of different sizes, you can make one that fits you!

You can also flatten these beaded knots to make rosettes for pendants or earrings.   This pattern is suitable for beginning bead weaver, with enough design possibilities to entertain advanced bead weavers. I provide specific counts for four different knots, and explain the general concept so you can bead the whole set of braided circular knots, any size you want!

If you like this design, you'll also enjoy my first tutorial on Celtic knots that shows earrings made from rectangular knots,

TUTORIAL- Celtic Knots Part 2: Rings Rosettes and Beaded Beads

This is my second tutorial on Celtic knot.  The last tutorial showed earrings made from rectangular knots, whereas this new tutorial will teach you to braid the pieces of beadwork into circular knots.

These knots are quite flexible. You can turn them inside out. They can be worn as finger rings, of flatten them to make rosettes for pendants or earrings. You can also add extra stitching to turn these knots into sophisticated beaded beads with large holes. This pattern is suitable for beginning bead weaver, with enough design possibilities to entertain advanced bead weavers. I provide specific counts for four different knots, and explain the general concept so you can bead the whole set of braided circular knots, any size you want!

The tutorial is 17 pages, with over 60 full color illustrations and photographs.  Click the photos to go to the listing.  Thanks for looking.

Tutorial Celtic Knot Earrings and Knotted Cross

I just released my newest tutorial on beaded rick rack and Celtic knotwork designs.  This tutorial starts with a beginner’s lesson on beaded rick rack in several sizes. Then you learn to make beaded squares, leading to the main pattern: the Celtic Knot Earrings shown here. In a later project from the same pattern, I also explain how to make these earrings.

And there's more, because I also devote a full page to this beaded Celtic cross.  I don't give step-by-step instructions for this advanced design, but I do give enough information that if you put your mind to it, you should be able to make one for yourself.  

Lastly, here's a photo of some of the basic designs I show in the pattern, namely beaded rick rack and squares.

Thanks for looking!

Tutorial Celtic Knot Earrings and Beaded Rick Rack

I just released my newest tutorial on beaded rick rack and Celtic knotwork designs.  This tutorial starts with a beginner’s lesson on beaded rick rack in several sizes. Then you learn to make beaded squares, leading to the main pattern: the Celtic Knot Earrings shown here. The beaded rick rack technique works remarkably well with lots of different bead sizes. 

This pattern ends with 7 colorful pages of dozens of beading projects and illustrated designs to inspire you to make beautiful beaded rick rack and knotted jewelry.  In 2004, Blake Mellor and I published a paper together called, “On the Topology of Celtic Knotwork Design,” and I used what I learned from writing that paper to design some of the beadwork in this tutorial. 

This pattern is suitable for beginning bead weavers with enough design possibilities to entertain advanced bead weavers as well.

Because rick rack is a common textile trim, I'm considering this to be part 7 in my series, The Beaded Lace Adventure, where I aspire to write a series of tutorials designed around making a large collar necklace out of beaded lace. I am carefully documenting my process in this series, and I invite you to make a lace collar or cuff bracelet with me.

As always, thanks for looking!

Tutorial Beaded Lace Hearts Part 6 of the Beaded Lace Adventure

Using nothing more than seed beads and thread, beaded lace hearts are designed to look like Irish crochet and tatting lace hearts and leaves. Use square stitch to make hearts in two different sizes. Although the shape varies with the size and shape of the seed beads you use, this pattern explains how to adjust the counts so you can make beautifully shaped hearts with your particular seed beads. The big heart is 1 1/4 inches (32 mm) tall. The small heart is 1 inch (25 mm) tall.

The tutorial is 12 pages, including 37 illustrations and photographs. The tutorial is a PDF file that gives step-by-step instructions explaining how to make beaded hearts in two sizes. I give detailed instructions for weaving the hearts, plus the last 5 pages include photos and several design possibilities for bracelets, earrings, and necklaces with these hearts, some of which use other beaded motifs from the Beaded Lace Adventure. While many design inspirations are included, this tutorial does not explain how to finish a specific piece of jewelry.

This is part 6 in my series, The Beaded Lace Adventure, where I aspire to write a series of tutorials designed around making large collar necklaces out of beaded lace. I am carefully documenting my process in this series, and I invite you to make a lace collar or cuff bracelet with me. For example, this section is the front of the third collar I am currently working on.

Part 1 of the Beaded Lace Adventure is “Athena’s Acanthus Bracelet”

Part 2 is “Beaded Lace Flowers”

Part 3 is "Beaded Lace Swags"

Part 4 is "Beaded Lace Medallions"

Part 5 is "Eucalyptus Leaves Bracelets and Clovers"

Beaded Lace Adventure Necklace No. 2

Last time I reported on the Beaded Lace Adventure, I showed some beaded motifs from my latest tutorial, Eucalyptus Leaves.  Today, I have the complete collar to share with you that uses a bunch of those motifs. 

Eucalyptus Leaves is a two-for-one pattern that shows how to make a bracelet as well as the Eucalyptus Clover, which was the basis for this collar.  The top edge of this collar is composed of nine eucalyptus clovers in bronze, silver, black and matte gray seed beads.

I also used nine beaded lace flowers with 3 petals and eight pieces of beaded lace swags on the bottom edge. Swarovski pearls in cream connect the various motifs.

I have to admit, I'm thrilled with the drape of this piece.  It fits perfectly at that place where the base of the neck meets the top of the collarbone.  Considering how heavy it is, this collar is remarkably comfortable.  I used gold filled chain, lobster clasps, and jumprings to make the clasp adjustable for a perfect fit.  Actually, it didn't really want to lie flat for the photos where I laid it flat on the table because it's not designed to be flat. But since it's lace, it will stretch and compress to fit.  That's what all of those holes are good for!

This Beaded Lace Adventure Necklace No.2 is for sale in my Etsy shop.  Thanks for looking.  Happy holidays.

Eucalyptus Leaves Bracelet: Part 5 of the Beaded Lace Adventure

It's been a couple weeks since I reported on the Beaded Lace Adventure, and during that time, I've given a lot of thanks, ate a lot of delicious food with my friends and family, and managed to finish one new tutorial.  I hope you'll think it's a good one.  This is Part 5 of the beaded lace adventure, which I call Eucalyptus Leaves.  Eucalyptus is a two-for-one pattern which shows how to make this bracelet,

as well as the Eucalyptus Clover, a four-petaled design that plays well with the other lace motifs in the adventure. It's like the four-petaled flower from Part 2, but bigger and more elaborate.  A bunch of them in a row makes a nice band for a collar or bracelet.

In fact, I will use most of these clovers in the collar I am currently stitching, which I'll share when it's finished.  In the mean time, here are some of the designs I've been playing with, and the tutorial includes a few more to inspire you to make one for yourself. 

Here you can see what the eucalyptus vine looks like in black. I think looks like some mod black lace from the 1950s, super chic.  I should probably finish this bracelet, but I'd rather work on the collar because it's bigger and more elaborate.  

The eucalyptus tutorial even includes a few lacy snowflake designs like this one.  How pretty would this be hanging in a window, twinkling when the sun shines on it, and lacy when the sun shines through it.  

 

To conclude this post, I'm thrilled to share the work of a fellow beading blogger... From a companion on the Adventure, here is bead work by Tanya of Pixiloo.  

She made this beautiful necklace using my Beaded Lace Swags tutorial.  I love how she stacked two different swag designs, and added pink daggers to make such a lovely necklace.  The colors she chose look very antique to me.  I like it. Can I tell you, I am so exited to have someone joining me on this adventure, because I think the possibilities are huge and potentially gorgeous (like Tanya's necklace here), and Tanya promised to make more beaded lace!  So I'm waiting patiently for that.   Tanya also wrote a nice review of the Beaded Lace Adventure on her blog, and for that I am thankful.  And for you reading my blog, too. Thanks for looking.  

The Beaded Lace Adventure Continues

I'm working on a second lace collar for my beaded lace adventure, and I thought I'd show you one of my stops along the way.  Here are a few of the components that I've made for the piece so far.

This includes a beaded lace medallion, four lace flowers, and a swag. 

Lace Medallions: Part 4 of the Beaded Lace Adventure

I finished my first beaded lace necklace, and I'm so in love. 

It's so comfortable, and it hangs beautifully below my neck. The drape is just perfect. I chose steampunk colors of black, gold, bronze and pearl.   

You might notice this necklace features a large golden bronze Beaded Lace Medallion, which happens to be Part 4 of my Beaded Lace Adventure. The medallion tutorial is now available if you would like to make some medallions too.

 

The instructions explain how to make 5 different medallion variations. I give specific patterns for medallions with 6, 7, and 8 petals that range in size from 1 1/2 to 2 inches. The last three pages includes photos of several design possibilities for necklaces and wide cuff bracelets using medallions, flowers, and swags. more designs are coming!  Here's an example of a cuff design.

You can read more about the Beaded Lace Adventure here on my blog, find the patterns in the tutorials section of my Etsy shop, and please look out for more soon. I've got more designs in my notebook still to realize in seed beads, but I have to sit down and bead them first before I can show you.  So, come back later!  And as always, thanks for looking.

Beaded Swags: Part 3 of the Beaded Lace Adventure

I'm still having fun designing lace for my Beaded Lace Adventure.  I love lace, always have.  And with more elements to design with, I can create larger, more elaborate compositions. 

In my new pattern on Beaded Lace Swags, I show how to weave 9 different versions of swags, including these.  So you can make a beaded lace necklace with me!

The compositions here also include Beaded Lace Flowers and Swarovski crystals.  This composition is almost symmetric, but I realized that if I want to make a symmetric necklace, I better start making two of each sample piece.  

 

I did that for most of the flowers, but I haven't started making doubles of the swags yet. So these compositions are quite asymmetric, because that's all I've got.

You can read more about the Beaded Lace Adventure here on my blog, and please look out for more soon.  I haven't finished this necklace yet, and I've got more designs in my head, but I have to sit down and bead them first before I can show you.  So, come back later!  And as always, thanks for looking.

Going on a Beaded Lace Adventure

I'm going on a lace adventure.  Do you want to come along with me?

Let me explain...  For the last couple of weeks, I started beading lace.  I'm taking my inspiration from the fantastic Terese de Dillmont, who documented the art of Irish lace crochet in her Encyclopedia of Needlework, in the 1880s.  From Terese, I learned how to do crochet lace flowers, and I made a few free video tutorials that you can find here on my blog.  One classic crochet design is the basic five petaled flower.

I tried to make a flower with beads and a needle instead of yarn and a crochet hook.  And so I did, and I made more and more, and now I have a little garden of black lace flowers made out of seed beads and thread.  

I have enough flowers to make a bracelet.   I could sew them together and add a clasp, but what I really want to do is make is a big black lace necklace, a collar that fits comfortably around the base of my neck with crystals hanging off of it and pearls connecting it together.  Something dramatic and Gothic.   So I just put in an order for the bigger beads, and I'm going to make more flowers.  I'm also going to add swags and other do-dads and lacy bits to fill out the piece until it's big and complicated.  And I want you to make one too!  Don't you want to make your own?  I mean, you like lace too, right?

Now, what's so great about this lace technique made with bead weaving is that it's easy to do, and because it's flat, it's easy to draw patterns explaining how to do it, and I think that should make it easy to learn as well.  So I'm writing a series of tutorials in hopes that some of you will play along and make beaded lace jewelry with me.  Athena's Acanthus Bracelet is the first design in the series.

So I'm going to make big necklaces.  Rather than making one large tutorial explaining how to make a whole necklace, I'm going to write several shorter (read that "inexpensive") tutorials that each explain one kind of design. Rather than focusing on making complete jewelry, for now at least, I want to teach you how to make individual motifs, and show you ways of arranging them.  The result will be a series of designs and tutorials that all coordinate so you can compose larger pieces of jewelry.  I'm not sure how many of these tutorials I have in me, and it might depend upon how enthusiastic you gals are in encouraging me to make more.  But I think I have at least a couple more.  

So, I'm selling these as short tutorials, individually priced so you can just buy the parts you want to learn and make.  And I am pricing them at a fraction of what I normally charge to encourage you to try it out, and make your own beaded lace jewelry.

Part 1 of the Beaded Lace Adventure is Athena’s Acanthus Bracelet.

Part 2 is Beaded Lace Flowers.

Part 3 is Beaded Lace Swags.

Part 4 is Beaded Lace Medallions.

Part 5 is the Eucalyptus Leaves, which shows how to make a bracelet

and the Eucalyptus Clover, a four-petaled design that plays well with the other lace motifs in this adventure. It's like the four-petaled flower from Part 2, but bigger.  A bunch of them in a row makes a nice band.

and more designs are coming! Look for in the tutorials section of my Etsy shop.  Here is my first complete necklace, made with motifs from Parts 2, 3, and 4.   

Stay tuned for more because there's definitely more.  More tutorials and more jewelry.  As always, thanks for looking.