Need some guidelines for the project for newbie.

what type & size thread thread should I use ? Should I use fireline ?

please recommend the bead sizes as well.

thanks.

Loved this newsletter.  I'm a visual learner and this type of illustration is fantastic.

 Can we get more of this type of hands-on demonstration and information?

I wish you'd describe more beading stitches this way! As a matter of fact, I've stopped subscribing to so many beading magazines because I can't do the projects. The "basics" in the back of the magazine aren't detailed enough for a beginner. There are some beading magazines from the UK that I've been buying because of the detailed instruction that is so easy to follow. Do herringbone, ladder, nedeble...peyote has always stumped me.  Can't get it to stay together at the beginning...Thanks!

THANK YOU! I have been trying to do this for a while to no avail. Thanks to you I can finally finish some of the projects I have been wanting to try!!!

I really like using the circular brick stitch. The possibilities are endless for what you can do. I also like using a rubber washer to brick stitch around, using the hole in the center to suspend another bead or crystal or natural stone. It's fun just to start out with a bead, pick some colors to go with it and go with the flow just building up on it and adding to it til I get it to where I feed all happy and good inside!

Well, we aim to please! I like teaching this way if not in person. Nice big photos, basic stitch technique, then you can go from scales to sonata, right? To be sure there's more coming!

About supplies for newbies: glad you asked.

First, use any strong beading thread. I'm a braided line (like WildFire) fan myself, since it doesn't stretch. The 6 lb or 8lb test weight, or size D for other threads, is more than strong enough. Judge thread strength needed by the weight your project will bear.

Needle sizes--whatever will fit easily through your beads even when they're filled with a few passes of thread. I prefer longer length needles, easier to hold. 1.5 inches to 2", size 12 or 10.

Peyote puzzler? Watch my odd-count peyote video and my trick with the needle holding the first rows in place!

www.beadingdaily.com/.../55914.aspx

Thanks for all your feedback and comments, keep them coming!

And Donnie, I so know what you're saying. This is one of my faves, too, to not have to plan it and just let it grow!

--Leslie, editor Beading Daily

Why can't there be a Beadfest in Atlanta?  Is there some reason that Atlanta doesn't make the 'show' circit?  It's certainly warmer than some states and not as pricey to stay at.....just wishing.

Stacy Nathan

Atlanta, Georgia

SO happy to see this!

What I need to know is not how to start flat circular brick stitch, but how to do increases from row to row.  Could the tutorial be expanded pretty-please-with-lampworked-cherries-on-top?

Increasing is accomplished after the first stitch on the row or any place along the round. the first stitch is always 2 beads, catch the top stitch and bring your needle back up in the 2nd bead added... then each stitch is 1 bead, thru the top stitch and up thru the bead.  The increase is made by working 2 - 1 bead stitches in the same top stitch.

Jean Campbell did a blog that I'm sure is still hanging around here... To Cull or Not To Cull... Gee, she made me appreciate mis-sized beads.  increasing in Peyote or Brick is a great way to use those narrower beads.  Decreasing uses the bigger beads.

As for threads, I have become hooked on braided, but for a practice project (the first time I make something), I use nymo. Be sure to stretch it gently first. Then when I err, and have to start over, all I have to do is cut the threads... and I don't cry as when I have to cut Fireline.