Finding beading inspiration in other crafts

Rae Arlene Reller looked to knitting and applied the concept of cables to herringbone stitch in this nifty bracelet.

And just to prove that your name doesn’t have to start with an "R" to do this, I translated a crochet technique called “crocodile stitch” into this St. Petersburg chain bracelet.

Now, in a project from her new book titled Stitching with a Handful of Beads, Carolyn Cave also found inspiration in crochet. In the introduction to her “Constance bracelet,” she says, “A crocheted cushion cover I made when I was in my teens inspired this bracelet. Rows of chain were made between blocks of double-crochet bars and then pulled up to make loops, all joined together in the center. Albion stitch, developed by Heather Kingsley-Heath, is the perfect bead stitch to replicate the stitches originally made with yarn.” 

Carolyn’s book is interesting in another way — the projects are grouped according to how many different bead types you need to make it. This bracelet is in the three-bead section because the instructions have you use just one color for the band, one color for the loops, and one type of edge embellishment. I made mine a little more complicated by using three colors for the loops, but it still used a very manageable five bead types.

I’ll definitely be trying more projects from this book. Carolyn’s designs tend to be purposeful and well-thought-out and her instructions are clear and complete. You can find this book here.