FAQ

KUMIHIMO BOOK FAQS:

In Book 3, Braiding with Beads there is this beautiful silver focal bead with a face on it. Where can I get one?

I bought this many years ago at one of the Tucson Gem shows. Sajen Silver is the name of the company selling it. These days when I want one of these pieces I go to ebay and search for "Sajen silver goddess." But I warn you, they are not cheap. The harder they are to find, the more the price seems go up.

In the Out of the World Lariat Instructions found in Book 3, Braiding with Beads, I'm confused about how many boro beads go where. Help!

First, remember that the Lariat is made in two pieces and joined at center back. Each piece uses HALF the total beads. Since the boros are sold in strings of 25; Bobbin 1 will have 12 regular and 13 mini boros. Bobbin 17 will have 13 regular and 12 mini boros. Boros on both bobbins will be followed by a pile of Size 8 Delicas. You will repeat this process when it comes time to braid the second piece.

In Book 2 Necklaces Braided on the Kumihimo Disk, is there a mistake on the braiding table for Color Tipped Swirl?

Yes. No excuses. We typo'd. It occurs on line 17. The last color should have a 12 in it instead of the 11. It should read that you move from slit 29 to 12. Now, chances are you won't realize that this was the mistake until farther down the table.

When the book was reprinted in 2011, we fixed the typo. Corrected copies of the book have a "v2" printed after the Copyright line on the inside cover.

Really? You think you solved the problem? Because when I get down to line 32 it says I should lift from 25 and drop into 10, but 10 is full. Don't you really mean 11?

This isn't happening to me! We test, we review, we do all that good stuff to catch errors. I plead dyslexia or something like that. But, YES. Line 32 should read lift from 25 and drop in 11. Sorry.

In Book 2 Necklaces Braided on the Kumihimo Disk on page 19 of instructions for the Laramie Braid are the Step 4 instructions exactly the same as the step 3 instructions?

Yes they are. So skip Step 4 and move right into Step 5. This got by us in both the 2009 and the v2, 2011 editions. We'll fix it the next time we reprint.

ORNAMENT BOOK FAQS:

What size ornament should be used?

All the designs in Books 1, 2 , 3, 5 and 6 were made over a 2 5/8"standard glass Christmas ornament. Book 4 and 7 uses several sizes of ornaments.

A standard glass ornament measures 8.25" to 8 3/8" around the belly.



Where can I buy those long bugles?

Start with your local bead shop. But if that doesn’t work, may I suggest General Bead. Their prices are good and their selection excellent.

http://www.genbead.com

Another source is Shipwreck Beads.

http://www.shipwreck-beads.com

And one of my personal favorites...

http://www.firemountaingems.com


Why should I buy a bead kit?

There is a whole sales pitch in the Why Buy A Bead Kit section in the More Information Box.

Book 1 Questions:

Tiffany:

Why is my belly band too big?

The diameter, which is the thickness not the length, of some bugle beads seems to vary more than others. Thus the length of a 10 bugle ladder in one bead can vary from a another bead (or even the same bead from a different manufacturing lot). It can make you go nuts!

The good news is that the Tiffany pattern is flexible enough to handle it. Make sure that your belly band fits snugly around the bulb to avoid a saggy belly. Don’t make it too tight though or your thread may be inclined to break.

Figure out how many bugle beads you are short. Divide by 6 (for the number of flower panels). Your answer will probably be 1 or 2. Look at the dangle pattern. If your number is 1, remove one of the longest dangles on the right or left. Or if you like the dangle length, remove the shortest center dangle.

If your number was 2 then remove one of the longest dangles from BOTH the right and left side. No one will notice.

What if the number of beads short does not divide by 6 evenly? Do a combination of the above. Remove the majority evenly from the sides. But those pesky remainders can be removed from the center short dangle. One per each flower panel. Again, no one will notice.



What do I do about accent beads at the bottom of the flower panel ladders?

It’s your choice. If you look at the Ice Blue Tiffany you will see that there are pearl beads on top of the belly band, below the vertical ladders. I didn’t do it on the Black Tiffany. I think the easiest thing to do is add them. Using Diagram J on page 10 you can see how the accent bead is added as part of making the dangle. It also keeps your thread away from the sharp edge of the bugle. For those who want to skip the bead, just leave it out, don’t do it. Proceed with dangle beading as ususal.


What Delica colors did you use to make the rose in the Tiffanys?

Color 1 Lt. Pink 244
Color 2 Med Pink 236
Color 3 Dark Pink 625
Color 4 Deep Rose 1338
Color 7 Med Green 274
Color 8 Lt Green 237

For the body of the Tiffanys:

Main color Lt. Saphire 044 or Black 010
Color 9 White Pearl 231 or 201 or Gold 04


Frozen Fiesta:


I don’t see a Size 8 spacer bead in my Frozen Fiesta Kit?

The Frozen Fiesta doesn’t use a Size 8 bead so there isn’t one in the kit, but you had to be pretty savvy to figure that out by yourself. In the instructions for the Fiesta, Step 4 calls for a Size 8 bead. If you were very observant you would notice that in the Frozen Fiesta I used the silver spacer beads to make the center of the pinwheel. While I haven’t had many people ask this question...it should have been clearer in the instructions.



Book 3 Questions:

I can’t find those red, white and blue stars at my bead store. Where can I find them?

Those great little stars are only available to wholesalers, not the general public. Eventually some big mail order place like Shipwreck or Fire Mountain will pick them up, but in the meantime you can buy just the stars from me. I wasn’t trying to make things difficult, so I’m hoping by making this easy, store owners won’t hate me. Look under the Hard to Find Category.

Be sure to order for the correct ornament as the number of stars varys depending on which you choose.


How many pearls are needed for the Romanoff?

Oops! The Romanoff takes 125 pearls. It’s printed wrong in the book. I try hard to get things right, but I simply missed it on this one. My apologies to everyone.


Book 4 Questions:

Vivaldis:

Step 1 - I made 23 sets, just like your book says, but it doesn’t fit around my ornament. It took 25 sets and your kit doesn’t have enough crystals or spears for that. What do I do?

We’re back to those bugle beads again! I have bought 7mm bugle beads from 4 different sources and every one of them is 6-6.5mm long. Yikes! What’s a person to do? Here’s how you solve the problem.

Make 24 sets then add mc seed beads until your belly band reaches all the way around your ornament. Count the number of seed beads you had added. For this example we will say 7 mc beads. Your answer will probably be different. But we’ll go with 7 for this example. Divide 24 sets by 7 mcs and you get 3. Remember 3. Start you belly band over and every 3 sets add 1 mc after the bugle bead. Do this 7 times. Check your belly band again to make sure it reaches all the way around snugly. Tie your knot and proceed to follow the instructions. From now on ignore those extra seed beads in the first row. Treat them like part ot the bugle bead.

As you continue to make the belly band those mcs will disappear behind the large 8mm crystals added in 10.

Adding sneaky little mcs is also a good way to make a larger Top Ring for those ornaments that have King Kong thick necks.



Pineapple Lace:

I’m seeing more thread than I’m used to. Am I doing this right?

Oh the joy of freshwater pearls. Beautiful to look at but that odd shape can make it difficult to get them close together. So, yes, more thread shows. If you look at the picture on the cover you will see more thread there too. But like most ornaments, people will be so awed by the overall achievement, they won’t see the thread either.



Book 5 Questions:

White Tatiana:

Step 2: The CRY color pattern for the belly band and dangles is: gold, purple, blue, pink, and green. You can organize it any way you want, of course, but I was trying to avoid the color pattern repeating to make "stripes" of color around the ornament. If all the bottom points were the same color and all the top points were the same color it would look like stripes. Save the pearls for for the connectors in Step 13.

Step 12: Use the crys instead of rounds to make the Top Ring. If your Top Ring is too tight, slip an mc between several of the crystals to give you a little more space around the Top. Ignore these mcs from then on.

Step 13: Read the handy tip to understand the difference between the Gold Tatiana connectors and the White Tatiana connectors.

Step 17: The dangle pattern for the White Tatiana is slightly different than the Gold Tatiana.

24mcs + 1 cry + 1 rond + 1 bugle + 1 rond + 1 cry + 1 cry + 1 CRY or Pearl + 1 cry + 1mc then weave back up through the entire dangle.

At the bottom of the dangles there is a different color CRY or pearl. The first dangle will use a gold CRY, the second dangle a purple, etc. The sixth dangle will be a pearl. Then start the sequence over again.

Book 7 Questions:

Medieval:

I goofed.  In the supplies list for the Medieval it says that you need either 18 or 24 - 6mm pearls.  It should read a total of 36.
You will need 12 for the top ring.  6 for the top swags.  12 for the bottom swags.  If you are using them at the bottom of the dangles you will need the last 6.  I apologize for this mistake.