Who Gets the HDT's?

And the winner is...

Number 35, Elizabeth! Congratulations, Elizabeth! I will mail your threads as soon as I get your address. Thank you to everyone who entered and who has read my blog during the last year.

Here's a bracelet I made last week. I didn't share it before because last week's post was getting way too long, and then I didn't post again because I wanted to keep the drawing at the top of the page.

I made this for a friend, but I really like the way it came out, so I may have to make another for myself. The pattern is by Jane Eborall. The threads are Lizbeth colors 641 Lilac Dark and 631 Country Purple Light. Yes, I do use size 20 occasionally; for jewelry I find it's usually best to use the size the designer calls for or close to it, or the beads will be out of proportion.

To make this pattern work, you need a focal bead with 2 horizontal holes, like this:

I found these at Jo-Ann's a couple of years ago.

I bought this package and one of similar larger ones because I just knew I needed them even though I had no idea for what at the time. I forgot all about them until I was rummaging through my bead and button collection trying to find something that would work for this bracelet. The larger ones were too big and these were too small, so I went with one of these plus a few regular beads on each side of it.

I like to use magnetic clasps for bracelets because they are easy to fasten with one hand. They're not always so easy to tat with, though-- if you're using a paperclip to temporarily secure your beads, well, you can imagine.

This bracelet was a fun project to tat, although I must say it took considerably longer than I expected. Between having issues with the magnet and having to work with two pairs of threads and make sure the chains were correctly interwoven as I went, I had to work much slower than usual. I think the result was worth it, though.

Finally, March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month, so if you are interested in the "Angels in the Snow" snowflake and haven't purchased it yet, now would be a good time! See the sidebar on the left for details.