Jewelled Eyes Choker

Jewelled Eyes Choker

A simple pattern for you to follow this week. One of my favourite things about loomwork is the way it lends itself to graphed patterns like this. Of course, you can graph patterns in brick or peyote, but loomwork is, I think, the easiest. If you are a keen cross stitcher, check your books for patterns to adapt; border patterns work best. The diamond shapes look like eyes to me. I used AB finish and silver lined seeds in rich jewel colours, but feel free to substitute your own colours if you like. The picture shows only a bit of the choker, to give you a general idea of the pattern. You Need:

• Bead loom
• Bead thread
• Beading needle
• Seed beads, size 11:
• - Silver-lined amethyst
• - Silver-lined gold
• - Silver-lined Capri blue
• - Crystal AB
• 2 jump rings
• 2 callottes/beadtips
• 1 clasp (I used silver, but you can use a different metal if it woks better with your colours.
• Half-round or round nose pliers

Warp the loom with 11 warp threads and tie a long thread to the outermost warp. Begin weaving the chart pattern. Each square represents 1 bead, so the first row is 4 amethyst, 2 blue, 4 amethyst and so on (reading from top to bottom). You follow the chart in one direction only b; don’t zigzag like you would if following a knitting chart. Note: I made the chart as a word table so it would be easier to import into the blog. As shown on the chart, the design will be slightly elongated due to the shape of the seed beads. If you want a completely square design, use Delicas or other cylinder beads.

A	A	A	A	B	B	A	A	A	A
A	A	A	B	B	B	B	A	A	A
A	A	B	B	G	G	B	B	A	A
A	B	B	G	C	C	G	B	B	A
B	B	G	C	C	C	C	G	B	B
B	B	G	C	C	C	C	G	B	B
A	B	B	G	C	C	G	B	B	A
A	A	B	B	G	G	B	B	A	A
A	A	A	B	B	B	B	A	A	A
A	A	A	A	B	B	A	A	A	A

A = Amethyst

B = Blue

G = Gold

C = Crystal

Repeat the chart 15 times.  This will give a choker about 40 cm/16 inches.  If you want a longer one either add more rows of purple before beginning the chart, or use an extension chain on the clasp.  Alternatively, work fewer repeats and make a bracelet, or more repeats for a belt!

            Gently remove the beading from the loom and cut the knots off.  We need to attach a clasp to the beadwork.  To do this take each warp thread in turn and weave it through the first row of beads, coming up through the centre bead.  When all the threads are together in the centre, thread them up through the base of the calotte and tie them in a knot.  Close the knot cover and repeat at the other end.  The ends can look a bit raggedy, so take care doing this and push the beads together to create a tight fabric.  This is only one way of dealing with the warp threads but its advantage is that you don’t see much of the threads as they are hidden inside the calotte.  Attach a jump ring at one end, and the clasp at the other. I’m sure you know this, but it is important to twist the jump rings open rather than pull them.  If you pull them apart you’ll never get them to close properly, and the clasp will fall off.

            That’s it!  This is a basic choker; you can embellish it in all kinds of ways.  Use different colours (if you look closely you’ll see I swapped round the centre colours every repeat).  Add fringing to the bottom or a picot trim along the edges.  If you want to design your own patterns you can either do what I did and use a computer to colour a grid, or do it the old-fashioned way with coloured pencils and graph paper!