Hello, my darling beady friends! I finally have something new for you!
That cathedral bead pattern that I previewed in my last post is finally ready! I was not expecting to make you wait almost another two months after I posted that, but you all know I’ve been struggling with motivation this year. My last new design was my River Reed Bracelet back in August and the last one before that was my Princess Cordelia Necklace waaaaay back in November of 2019! I know I’ve been sluggish, but getting this one finished was incredibly satisfying and I’m so excited to share it with you.
The start of this design was this pumpkin bracelet. I remember fiddling around with it while listening to a fantastic fantasy horror book (The Twisted Ones by T Kingfisher) and being super excited when the pattern started taking shape in my hands. It was so exciting!
These earrings were my next attempt. I’ve had these metal spikes for awhile now and I think they were really interesting in proportion with the beaded bit. The shop where I got them has since closed, so let me know if you know where I can get more online – I LOVE this length and can see myself making a bunch of earrings with this style drop.
Because the term “cathedral beads” apparently isn’t very specific, I wanted to make sure that these more traditionally shaped, highly faceted beads would work in the design. As long as you still get 6mm, you should be good! I also really wanted to try the partially finished ends on this one. I think it looks really cool and it makes the bracelet super adjustable for pretty much any size wrist, but it was very tricky to photograph, since the bracelet can’t really lie flat.
And then I had to try earrings with just plain pearls, since cathedral beads can be so hard to find. It’s not my favorite version of the pattern, but it still works! And even if I don’t find the shape quite as exciting, I do really love these colors together.
The pattern includes instructions for the bracelet and the earrings and I have included the color names and number (if I had them) for all the samples in this post and in the cover photo. I’m so pleased to finally have this one out in the world! Please let me know if you give it a try! :)