Friday, February 03, 2012

Bead Crochet Insanity

Don't let anyone tell you any differently. Size matters, particularly when you're talking about beads.

My last post showed off some of the beautiful beads I just received, purchased for a custom order. The request I received is for a 90-100" long bead crochet rope made from these gorgeous 24k brushed gold size 15/0 beads. And I thought I was all set for the challenge, having pulled out some of the size 15/0 beads I had on hand so I could see just how much of a challenge the rope was going to be.

Surprise #1? The 24k gold beads have smaller holes than the other size 15/0 beads I had. No problem. I just switched to a super skinny needle (yes, I know some of you would know what size needle, but I don't know - I just know it's really skinny and bendy, and smaller than a size 10). A little more tedium in picking up the beads because the needle's so thin, but no biggie. Right?

Surprise #2? The 24k beads themselves are smaller. They're labeled as size 15/0, as are the others I used, but there's a significant difference in their size. See what I mean?


There they are next to each other. I just used my size 12 needle to pick up some of the red size 15/0 beads I used before. There are 19 of the red beads on there, and it takes 27 of the gold beads to span the same distance. The gold ones are 30% smaller. Sheesh!

I'm still not willing to back down from a challenge, though, so here's where the "Bead Crochet Insanity" comes in. I'm busy working on the custom bead crochet rope using these teeny tiny 24k brushed gold size 15/0 beads. I've strung 10 grams of them onto my thread and, with the help of my cheapo magnifying glasses, am crocheting away. The rope itself is only slightly more than 1/8" in diameter (it's crocheted with 5 beads around). I feel like I'm crocheting with grains of sand. But I will persevere. The rope is going to use 500 grams of these little beads.

Yep.

Insane.

2 comments:

Judith said...

yes you are!! However you're in good company - I just bought 50 grams of Sour Apple picasso 15/0 hybrids, contemplating a rope... Your gols is beautiful!

pärlbesatt said...

So you've discovered yet another species, the 17/o or maybe 19/0? :D

May the force be with you, I usually curse when beading with 15/0...