Spiceberry Bracelet, the Peacock version.

SPICEBERRY

This is a Jenna Colyar-Cooper pattern that appeared on page 38 of the May-June 09 edition of Step by Step Beads magazine.

When I went in to buy the beads I was actually looking for beads to make the “Pretty as a Peacock” pattern on page 36. I had trouble finding the right beads though and decided that I  would probably never wear the piece.  At any rate, I flipped the page and saw *this* pattern and I fell in love with it.

The pattern calls for a beautiful combination of plum and metallic colored beads with a gold clasp. I believe that the bead shop I was in was missing one of the colors. I hate to sub just one color as it never ends up looking right. Ethan was really keen on the peacock colors in the preceding pattern. It isn’t often a gal has such input from her man so I decided to just let him pick out the colors. We both think that it has a bit of a Mardi Gras flair to it but I think I’ll still wear it. I have a shirt that matches the purply blue color to a T. If I make another one I will definitely hunt down the correct colors in the pattern.

This bracelet has a fabulous drape to it and it is easy for me to get on and off on my own. Also, it was fairly easy to construct. My biggest challenge was finding time between feedings to get it (as well as the laundry) done. Well, that and the pattern. The pattern was packed someplace weird in the move and I had a bit of trouble trying to find another copy of the magazine once we got here.

I really liked how this pattern went together.  I’m going to start by pointing out that while I understand the construction of peyote stitch, I don’t know how to count rows. So this might have been an issue with me more so than the pattern.  The pattern says to “Work even-count peyote 4 beads wide and 8″ long for each of the five colors”.   I caught this on the third ribbon. Depending on tension, 8 inches may or may not have the same number of beads. I’m not sure if 1 row is going to the right once, or going to the right once and back to the left. This is important, because when you go to sew those ribbons together you need to have all of them line up right. When I finished I had one that was off by a row, or a half row?, so I had to find a creative way to add those in so that they aligned properly.  I don’t have a lot of peyote under my belt so my ribbons could have been a bit nicer looking. I was a bit worried about how it would look when it was done. I have to say that this pattern is very forgiving, and that is always a plus in my book!

Braiding the cuff was much easier than I thought it would be. The pattern uses the colors of the ribbons in the directions which would have been great if I had chosen the same shades. Even so, it was pretty easy to do. Ethan held the clasp for me while I braided it and then I slipped a needle through the end row to hold it together when I was done. I set it down while I threaded a new needle  to finish the project.

I would absolutely try another one of Jenna’s patterns.