Pearly Dutch Spiral Necklace

Did I say I wanted a more chunky Dutch Spiral necklace? This one is MORE than chunky.  As I was progressing with the stitch, it was like a MONSTER emerging from my  work....stitch by stitch.  I could have just stopped the project but curiosity as to how it will turn out pushed me to move on. Ta da ...here is the end result:

It is too chunky to be a necklace especially for the owner-to-be as she is a petite lady.  I stopped the spiral stitch at this length so that it will only be the focal part of a necklace.  I continued the stitch with Peyote stitch but found that it would be too stiff (see the small portion right after the spiral) for the whole necklace.  


By changing the stitch to netted stitch, the necklace has a softer touch now and it helped to tone down the 'monster' look.  It is a faster stitch than Peyote and the hollow effect flows with the lacy look of Dutch Spiral.  Perfect! (Heh heh, it was pure coincidence.  Laziness was the main reason for choosing the netted stitch.  shhh........)


I like the Dutch Spiral stitch and there are so many interesting variations to be explored.  Nevertheless, I think I shall move on to learn other type of stitches to widen my beading exposure.  


Hmmm....let me see which stitch I shall try............  


  






        

Turquoise Dutch Spiral Necklace

1 skip 2 skip 3 skip 123 skip 1 skip 2 skip 3 skip 1234 skip.....ha ha, I am not counting a new dance step.  I have been counting the stitch sequence while doing the dutch spiral necklace to avoid mistake.  This was my second time doing this stitch, with counting this time, yet I still had to undo and restitch several times. Though the necklace is formed by hundreds of tiny beads, one small mistake, will mar the flow of the pattern.  

Hey, I am serious.  I would not waste my effort of putting hundred stitches together by ignoring those mistakes. Anyway, it is a real good exercise to train my patience.

This is for my daughter who has requested for Turquoise color.  With my limited knowledge of color coordination, this is the best I could do.  Hmmm...may be purple is a better match...perhaps black...or may be white.......or combination of these....or...................

I spent only three days making this necklace as compared to almost a week for the Rubi.  This time round, I managed to stitch the necklace from one end to the other.  With Rubi, I had to struggle with back stitch because I did the centre portion first and extended both ends to the desired length. 

Actually, I wanted the centre part to be more chunky.  I thought by adding more beads in the lacy part will do the trick.  I was wrong.  It just lengthened the shape only.  I will try this stitch one more time before moving on to explore other stitches e.g. Right angle Weave.  I will start the stitch with more beads i.e. 12 instead of 6 and use more sizes of bead.  Hope it will work.

Rubi Dutch Spiral Necklace

la..la...la..la....la...  oh I am sooo happy...I have completed a Dutch Spiral stitch necklace! 

With the choice of beads that I have chosen, the piece looks entirely different from the book, but I like it.  The lacy and scallop look surprised me as I was stitching along.  


After a few round of the lacy portion, I was facing the problem of finding ways to change the stitch to a more simple and slimmer rope.  I almost wanted to take the suggestion to end the spiral and change to stringing - an easier way out.  However, I gave myself one last chance to figure out the transitional stitch and I succeeded. The most difficult part was reversing the sequence of the spiral stitch at one side of the necklace.  I had to keep a very clear mind not to get confuse with the stitch of the other side as I was working on both ends at the same time alternately! That's pure madness!

Now it is time to bid farewell to Rubi.  I had promised a friend to make for her a red and black necklace and I have selfishly kept the first one that I have made - Fury Cellini Spiral.


I am not sad about this because I am going to make another one.  This time, with the colors that I like. Yeah!