Peyote vs Brick Stitch

While working on a bracelet that was part peyote and part brick stitch, I got to thinking about the differences in these two look alike stitches and thought I’d share my thoughts with you. So here's a graph you can use to make a pretty little iris, and if you stitch it both ways you'll see the differences for yourself.

Here are some differences I noticed, maybe you'll find others:

• Peyote is more difficult to start than brick stitch and it’s harder to keep your tension consistent in peyote than in brick stitch. On the other hand, stitching in peyote is considerably faster and it’s easier to “unstitch” peyote than brick.

• If you have trouble with odd count peyote, brick stitch might be a good alternative.

• Brick stitch decreases beautifully and, like peyote, can be worked on both sides of the first row.

• Brick stitch yields a firm surface while peyote yields a more flexible surface that drapes nicely. One or the other may be more desirable, depending on the application.

• When I joined a piece of peyote to a piece of brick stitch I was surprised to find a very slight difference in the way each piece reflected light; like velvet but less obvious.

• Running a row or two of brick stitch at the end of a band of peyote firms up the edge nicely. This is especially useful when you want to attach a clasp.

• Peyote graphs may be used for brick stitch by turning them sideways (and vice versa).

Happy stitching to all of you in 2012!

Magatama Necklace!

I told someone at Beadie's on Saturday that I'd send them the link to Smadar Grossman's tutorials. Now I've been stricken with CRS and don't know who to send it to. :-( So if it was you, here's the link.

BTW, if you were planning on shopping at Beadie's any time soon, better wait 'til she can replace all the stuff we bought Saturday, we didn't leave much. More beads! More beads! More beads! LOL!

Hope you all have a Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, and a Happy Kwanza...

More Horse Stuff

Someone suggested that the "Neptune's Steed" pendant I posted last would be more effectively photographed against a black background. She was so right! So here he is again - a much better pic this time.

Neptune's Steed Pendant

This is a pendant I made for the Year Of Jewelry Project - it's my vision of the Walter Crane painting of Neptune driving all his horses through the surf.

It was quite a feat of engineering to produce this piece and took quite a while to develop. I learned a lot about combining wire work and bead work in the same piece while working on it and the workmanship isn't my best, but I expect my next piece using this method will be much neater, now that I know what not to do. ;-D

Bollywood Challenge

The entries for the ArtFire Beadweavers Guild "Bollywood" challenge are up for voting. See all the eye candy and vote for your favorite!

Here are some other links for the ArtFire Beadweavers Guild you might want to check out for news and more eye candy:
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