![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Summer's end
September 5th, 2010 08:33 pmHere's the thing about bracelets: I don't wear them with long-sleeved shirts or sweaters. The temperature has been dropping for the past few days—okay, not terribly surprising given that this is Labor Day weekend. Long sleeves are on the horizon. And it hit me that if I didn't make this bracelet soon, I wouldn't wear it for months, possibly not until next summer. Which would be a shame, since this bracelet was the third project to push me into beading, along with the Ice Cube Bracelet and the Beadstrology necklace.
Back in July, I went to CONvergence, one of our local science-fiction/fantasy conventions. One of the vendors was selling a simple bracelet of green stones. I liked it enough to visit it several times over the course of the convention, but it was difficult to overlook two problems: I couldn't put the bracelet on by myself because of its clasp, and it cost $45. But during one of those repeat visits, I noticed that they had a basket of beads for sale. Buried in the heap was a string of green beads that looked similar to the ones in the bracelet, and for only a fraction of the price. When my beading friend assured me that that kind of bracelet was easy to make, my course was clear. But then I got sidetracked by class and summer and beading kits, and suddenly there was a clock ticking over my green bracelet. So let's hear it for long weekends, and the chance to catch up on a few summer projects.
The vendor told me what kind of stone this was, but I've forgotten. It looks like photos of African jade, though, so I'm calling it that unless a better match comes along. And unlike the lobster claw clasp of the original, I can manipulate this toggle clasp just fine. And even if the temperature plummets tomorrow, I have been wearing this bracelet as I write this post, so it has gotten some wear this season.
I still have thirteen beads left. I expect I'll be making a pendant out of one of them. And then there were twelve. I seem to be building up a leftover beads stash just like I already have a leftover yarn stash.
Back in July, I went to CONvergence, one of our local science-fiction/fantasy conventions. One of the vendors was selling a simple bracelet of green stones. I liked it enough to visit it several times over the course of the convention, but it was difficult to overlook two problems: I couldn't put the bracelet on by myself because of its clasp, and it cost $45. But during one of those repeat visits, I noticed that they had a basket of beads for sale. Buried in the heap was a string of green beads that looked similar to the ones in the bracelet, and for only a fraction of the price. When my beading friend assured me that that kind of bracelet was easy to make, my course was clear. But then I got sidetracked by class and summer and beading kits, and suddenly there was a clock ticking over my green bracelet. So let's hear it for long weekends, and the chance to catch up on a few summer projects.
The vendor told me what kind of stone this was, but I've forgotten. It looks like photos of African jade, though, so I'm calling it that unless a better match comes along. And unlike the lobster claw clasp of the original, I can manipulate this toggle clasp just fine. And even if the temperature plummets tomorrow, I have been wearing this bracelet as I write this post, so it has gotten some wear this season.
I still have thirteen beads left. I expect I'll be making a pendant out of one of them. And then there were twelve. I seem to be building up a leftover beads stash just like I already have a leftover yarn stash.
