Project of the Day

I've got a couple of friends with a cute little baby. She is just coming into her teething stage, so I made her an amber necklace.
Amber is supposed to have pain relieving properties, something to do with natural oils being gently released when in contact with warm skin, so teething necklaces are widely used throughout Europe. They are NOT for chewing on and they have to be removed when the baby is sleeping, but lots of people swear by them and say they are a help, so here goes. I hope she likes it.

New Necklace

New necklace for my Jewellery shop
:o)


Glass beads in forest colours, braided by hand to form a soft necklace. The focal bead is a little square game tile - painted, stamped and protected in laquer.
The necklace is not quite a choker, but meant to sit quite high. See the diagram for a guide on length.
16 inches long (40 cm) with an extra 25 inches of extension (6cm).

Cord Research

I really like the look of a braided cord. Especially when the length has a nice rhythm of beads and is then combined with various charms. I have been playing with how thin I could go and still be able to see the pattern in the braid.
But I have also been investigating different methods. I saw some really nice crochet necklaces on Etsy, and wondered if that would work for me. Above are my three first attempts. They are a mess :oD
I am just not used to crochet and getting the thread tension right while also continuously feeding pearls into the mix causes all sorts of cramping. I need more practise, but braiding with thin thread is exactly the same; little finger cramp.
Does anyone have a good tip for how to hold the thread and beads while crocheting?
I've been trying to suss it on you-tube, but I still don't have a good solution.

For neatness you can't beat the macramé, though, but it does require thicker thread/cord. The macramé always comes out looking very sturdy, which is a nice look, but if you want something more delicate a braid or crochet is ideal.