Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Beaded Snowflake ( Instructions - courtesy of Linda Barraclough )
Use gold and light blue seed beads (Olaf #9 or any others as long as they are good, even beads)
Thread a fine needle ( you may use a beading needle) with both ends of a long ( 1.2m) thread of white machine cotton ( or for extra strength use Nymo beading thread) so that there is a loop at the end.
Row 1
Pick up 1 gold bead, take it almost to the loop and then put the needle through the loop and tighten, so the bead is held securely ( note: if the threads slip apart the bead will come straight off )
Pick up 11 more gold beads, then go back through the first bead and the next bead so that it forms a tiny ring.
After this your needle should always go in the same direction - usually you will be working from right to left.
Row 2
Pick up 3 light blue beads, miss 1 gold bead and go through the next gold bead. This forms a loop, with 1 gold bead in the middle. Continue this way, picking up 3 and missing 1 gold bead to go through the next gold bead, until you have 6 loops of 3 light blue beads.
Finish this row by going through the gold bead where the first row starts, and through the first 2 light blue beads of the first loop.
Row 3
Pick up 1 light blue bead, 3 gold beads, 1 light blue bead and go through the middle bead of the next loop of light blue beads.
Continue with the 1 light blue, 3 gold, 1 light blue until you have 6 loops and are back to the start. Go through the first light blue and first gold of the first loop.
Row 4
***
Pick up 3 light blue beads and go through the third gold bead of the same loop in the previous row. Pick up 3 gold beads, 1 light blue
bead and 3 gold beads. Go back through the light blue bead and the next gold bead ( ie. third bead in the first lot of 3 gold beads ).
Pick up 2 gold beads and go through the first gold bead of the next loop in the previous row. You have just formed a picot.
Continue from *** until you have formed 6 picots.
Go into the appropriate gold bead to finish ( first 1 under the first light blue loop in this row ). Blanket stitch your thread once between beads. Go through 2 more gold beads and repeat blanket stitch. Go through 2 more gold beads and repeat blanket stitch. Go through light blue bead and cut thread close to beads.
It may seem very fiddly at first, but they are quite easy after making a couple of them.
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