The November Palette
My bracelet project was inspired by the Pretty Palettes Challenge for November. The palette for this month features a range of oranges and grays. It's very traditional and appealing at this time of year. There was a time that I avoided using orange in my work, but it appears more frequently now. It feels like such a happy color, a good antidote to a gray, winter day.
How I Made My Bracelet
Orange Chip Strand
For one strand of this bracelet, I stitched dyed orange quartzite chips together using a (very) freeform peyote stitch. It looks much more complicated than it actually is!
If you know how to do peyote stitch, do two rows in the traditional way to form a base and then start skipping stitches, just placing the chips wherever you feel they are needed.
Tip: The chips are all different sizes, so it's hard to specify an exact number that you'll need to use for your bracelet.
Wooden Round Strand
For the second strand, I used brown leather cord to knot in between dark brown 8mm carved melon rounds. I didn't have quite as many of the wooden rounds as I would have liked, so I double knotted in between some of the beads to create the length I needed.
Tip: Think of knotting the same way you would think of another bead. Knots can be decorative, not just functional.
The holes on these beads are quite large; it was easy to tuck the cord ends inside the bead holes for a neat finish. (You might want to use a dab of glue inside the bead for extra security.)
To finish the bracelet, I added a brass toggle clasp. Gold tones are an easy match for an orange-and-brown color combination.
See More Designs
Check out the Halcraft Blog to see what everyone made.
And congratulations to Erin Prais-Hintz on her first year anniversary of running the monthly Pretty Palettes Challenges!