AprilShowersEarrings

Supplies:

2-3gSize11SeedBeadsColorA2-3gSize11SeedBeadsColorB2-3gSize11SeedBeadsColorC1pairofearwiresNymoDorC-LontomatchcolorA(Firelinewillalsoworkifthat’swhatyouhave.)WaxSize12BeadingNeedleScissors

Instructions:

1. Waxa2yardlengthofthread.Tieonastopperbead.Pickup4A,4B,8C,4B,and4A.

2. PassthroughthesecondtolastpairofA

beadsfromthetailendtowardstheworkingend.Pulltight.NowpassthroughthelastpairofBbeadsfromthetailendtowardstheworkingend.Pulltight.

3. Repeatpassingthroughthenexttwobeadsonthestackuntilyouhaveabeadladderthatistwobeadshighand12beadslong.Removethestopperbead.

4. Theearringismadewithtwobeadbrickstitch,decreasingatthebeginningofeachrow.Pickup4A.Passtheneedleunderthesecondthreadloopandupthroughthe2beadstackdirectlyabovetheloop.Thisisthebasicbrickstitch,butyouwillneedtoanchortheTirstgroupofbeads.

5. Passdownthecolumnofbeadsontheleft,anddownintothesecondcolumnofbeadsbelowit.Bringtheneedleupthroughthethirdcolumnofbeadsontherowbelow,andthenupthroughthesecondcolumnofbeadsonthenewrow.

6. Therestoftherowyouwillonlyaddtwobeadsatatime.Pickup2Bandbringtheneedleunderthenextthreadbridgeandupthroughthe2Bjustadded.Repeatthissteponcemore.

7. Pickup2Candbringtheneedleunderthenextthreadbridgethenupthroughthe2Cjustadded.Repeattwicemore.

8. Dotwostitcheswith2B.

9. Dotwostitcheswith2A.

10. Atthebeginningofthenextrowyouwillrepeatsteps4and5workingbackintheotherdirection.Thisrowwillbelaidoutinthisorder:2A,2A,2B,2B,2C,2C,2B,2B,2A,2A.

11. Thenextrowis2A,2A,2B,2B,2C,2B,2B,2A,2A.

12. Row5is2A,2A,2B,2B,2B,2B,2A,2A

13. Row6is2A,2A,2B,2B,2B,2A,2A.

14. Row7is2A,2A,2B,2B,2A,2A.

15. Row8is2A,2A,2B,2A,2A.

16. Row9is2A,2A,2A,2A.

17. Row10is2A,2A,2A.

18. Row11is2A,2A.

19. Pickup6Abeadsandpassdownthesecondcolumnofbeadsonthetoprow.Reinforcethislooponcemore.

20. BringthethreaddownonesidesothatitisexitingtheTirstcolumnofbeadsoftheTirstrow.

21. Thisportionoftheprojecthassomewiggleroom.Shorterswagswillmakeastockierteardropshape,longeroneswillmakeamoreelongatedshape.Theshapeofyourseedbeadswillalsocontributetothesizeoftheswag.OnmyTirstpairthebeadswereallprettymuchthesameshapeandsize.Onmysecondpair,onecolorwasasmidgesmallerandIhadtomakesomecountadjustments.Thisisalltosay,usethebeadcountsasaguide,makesomenotesasyoudoit,andjustmakethesecondonethesameasyourTirstone.

22. Pickup28Abeads.BringtheneedleupthroughthelastcolumnofbeadsontheTirstrow.Bemindfulofyourtension.Tootight,anditwon’thangnicely,toolooseandyouwillhavethreadgaps.

23. Bringtheneedledownthroughthecolumnofbeadstotheleftoftheonethethreadisexiting.Theillustrationshowsthethreadpathminusthebeads.

24. Pickup24Abeads.Bringtheneedleupthroughthesecondcolumnofbeads.

25. Bringtheneedledownthroughthecolumnofbeadstotherightoftheonethethreadisexiting.

26. Pickup15Bbeads.Bringtheneedleupthroughthethirdcolumnofbeadsfromtheend.

27. Bringtheneedledownthroughthecolumnofbeadstotheleftoftheonethethreadisexiting.

28. Pickup10Bbeads.Bringtheneedleupthroughthefourthcolumnofbeads.

29. Bringtheneedledownthroughthecolumnofbeadstotheright.

30. Pickup5Cbeads.Bringtheneedleupthroughthe5thcolumnfromtheend.

31. Ifyouhaveroom,youcanaddacoupleofbeadsunderthelasttwocolumnsofbeads.Ididn’thaveroomonmysample.

32. Tieoffyourthreadintheswag,thenmakeasecondearring.

33. Addearwiresandenjoy!Notes:

Thispatternhaslotsofpotentialforexperimentation.Makethetopasinglecolorandmaketheswagsmulticolored.Tryitinasingleversionversusdoublebrickstitch.Tryitinthetinycubes,tryitinsize8s.Thetrianglebyitselfisaperfectlylovelyearring.Oraddstraightfringeinsteadofaswag.Ifyouneedgraphpaperfordesigningyourowntriangles,Tiremountaingems.comhasfreegraphpaperintheirresourcecenter.Lookforthetwodroppeyotepaper,andjustturnitsideways.Voila,twodropbrickstitchpaper.

FrancieBroadie:www.franciebroadie.com

Copyright:Pleasedonotcopytheseinstructions,exceptforpersonaluse.Youmaymakethisprojecttosell,butnotformassmanufacture.Ifyoudomakeitemstosell,pleasechargeappropriatelyforyourtimeandmaterials.Pleasegivecreditwherecreditisdue.