I Can Herringbone {Bead, Book & Bounce Reveal}

Bead, Book & Bounce is a regular feature, organised by Operation Tackle That Bead Stash, in an effort to make busy beaders dust off the beautiful beading and jewellery making books that are sitting, unloved and under-utilised on their bookshelves. Members are encouraged to bead, review the book and then 'bounce' around other participants blogs. Hence the name - Bead, Book & Bounce.

Over the past couple of months, members have been beading away, busily making projects from Melissa Grakowsky's 'I Can Herringbone'. Melissa's book is part of a wonderful (and growing) set of books in the 'I Can' Series by Lark Crafts.

Now, although I own a lot of the beading books that we choose for the Bead, Book & Bounce feature, I don't own all of them! So, I had popped this one onto my wishlist, thinking that I would buy it in time to create one of the projects for the big reveal. Only, well, someone bought it! I can only assume that I will find the book nestled amongst the gifts at the bottom of the Christmas Tree come the 25th December! 

Luckily, there were some free projects - Braided Braid and The Athena Necklace - from the book, available to download via the Lark Crafts Website. And luckier still, I am looking forward to finding that gift under the tree!

So, wanting to work on something from the book, but knowing that it might be on it's way, I chose to work on one of the free projects - The Braided Braid. Classified as an 'Experienced Beginner' pattern, the bracelet utilises Two-Ladder Tubular Herringbone to create three, long strips of tubular herringbone which are then braided into a cuff style bracelet. 

Whilst the project is simple enough for an experienced beginner, the free download doesn't include the instructions for Two-Ladder Tubular Herringbone, as these appear earlier on the book. So, if you are completely new to herringbone or tubular herringbone, you might need to purchase the full book (or look up the basic instructions elsewhere.) 

Once the project is underway, I suggest some seriously uplifting music (or your favourite film) for company, as the stitch becomes more than a little tedious - especially by the time you reach the third strip! But, if you're the type of beader who enjoys a repetitive, methodical braid or beaded rope, then maybe this will be your kind of project! 

The instructions though are clear and simple to follow, so even exhausted from all that tubular herringbone, you should find it easy to join the strips together and create the loops which attach them to the clasp. And, I must admit that the result was worth the effort! (Not that you can tell, because the light was terrible while I was taking photographs - and this is the best of the bunch!)

I'm looking forward to trying additional projects from the book over the holiday period (how exciting!) but in the meantime, I'm going to visit Operation Tackle That Bead Stash where I hope the other participants will be sharing their makes. Why not join me?