Pick a thread, any thread.

[BWeaves]

I'm stringing my new pistachio akoyas today from PP at Ruckus. I had ordered mint and aqua Beader's Secret from Pattye, because I wasn't sure which color would look best with them.



I think the mint Beader's Secret looks best with them.

But since I ordered the aqua, too, I'm thinking about using it to restring my BBAs from PP, instead of using the sky color that I already have used on my dark blue Vietnamese akoya strands.

I broke my silver blue 10mm BBAs from PP. And I just got the 8 1/2 mm BBAs at Ruckus, and they're strung just lovely.
But I just ordered 2 orbit clasps from PP which should arrive this week, and if I'm restringing anyway, all my blue strands will have orbit clasps by the time I'm done.

The photos are under an Ott light, but the coloration doesn't show up well. I suppose my pink velour beading mat doesn't help. I should've gotten a white paper towel.





So vote. Aqua or sky on the silver blue strands?

I can always restring if I don't like the aqua, but I think it might give the strands an extra little something.
The sky matches the pearls, but I feel like the aqua just pushes them to be more colorful.

 

[CortezPearls]

Aqua...but it is a very close call!

 

[battah]

Hmm both look great! But the aqua makes them a little more interesting and multidimensional.

 

[lary007]

I vote aqua, but in reality either would look great.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Best thing about Beader's Secret is that it's so darn easy to restring if you don't like the color! Or if you want to change up a little. I really like the aqua, but I also LOVE sky...one of my favorite colors to use.

 

[Marianne]

When the color of thread is not obvious by holding it along side the pearl or gemstone, I just knot up about 3 inches of each and compare.

 

[BWeaves]

Update. I think I start with aqua and see how I like it. I know the sky will work, just because I've used it before on blues.

Anyway, I really should throw away my beading suppliers I got before I met Pattye. I've been struggling all evening with gimp, and finally dug out the gimp I got from Pattye and it worked perfectly the first time.

But I also need to learn not to choke the living daylights out of Beader's Secret. I just got halfway through the pistachios and broke the thread. I know I was pulling too tight, but I can't stand pearls that slip between knots. I need to snug and not tug. I'm giving up for the evening and I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[Katbran]

I think the Aqua will pop but agree with Marianne...I will knot a few on 8 inches of thread and see what it looks like. You want it to complement but not be the focus that draws the eye.

Yes the Beaders Secret doesn't take well to a hard pull..but as you've learned you really don't need to .... I've broken my share of thread when I first started using it ... bit of a change from Power Pro lol

 

[JerseyPearl]

I find that if I move the needle around while stringing, the thread rarely (if ever) breaks even if I tug hard to make the knot.

 

[BWeaves]

Oh, it didn't break at the needle. It broke at the knot where I was pulling, and I had bandaids on my fingers because it was cutting into me. Really my fault. I could even tell the necklace didn't lay nicely because it was too tight.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Ah, well I find that the knots do seem to loosen a bit once worn. I tend to over tighten at first, but later on the strand I use a softer tug. Once I'm done I just give a slight tug on each end and play with the pearls a tad, and they drape beautifully.

 

[Sanippy]

I think both colours look lovely.

Looking forward to seeing them strung!

 

[BWeaves]

OK, third time's the charm. I finally got the pistachios strung. I had to keep repeating this mantra, "Snug, not tug."
I better string the blues while I still remember the right amount of snug to do.



Anyway, I wore the pistachios today with my Little h pendant. I couldn't decide between my Kojima drops (left) and my metallic drops (right), so I wore neither and went with emerald and diamond earrings (not photographed).



and my pencil pencil skirt.



Of course, there's always a pearl or two that doesn't make the cut. But even removing two pearls the final necklace is 18 1/2 inches long with the orbit clasp. One pearl had a big section of nacre missing near the drill hole, and one had a big crease in it. I could have left the pearls in, but I know they'd bug me.

Tonight I'll restring one of the blues. It should go quicker because they're bigger pearls. I know I need to remove a pearl from the new strand because there's always that one pearl, right dead center, with a flaw in it that nobody else can see, but it bugs me. This one has a little L shaped section where the nucleus shows through a tiny bit. Again, nobody else would notice, but I see it every time.

 

[Sanippy]

The stringing looks great! The combination of emeralds, diamonds, pistachio pearls and your beautiful geode pendant would be sublime.

And I love your pencil pencil skirt! Too cute.

 

[BWeaves]

UPDATE: I'm restringing the 10 mm BBAs and while I'm cutting them apart I realize that they were originally stung on a color that is very close to aqua. So, now I'm really glad I ordered the aqua. It's looking great. I'm halfway through. Of course, there were two pearls I had to remove. One was just too icky near a clasp, and one on the other end I can't get the thread out of the drill hole. I have it soaking in acetone in case it's glue. But I wouldn't mind the strand a hair shorter anyway, and the orbit clasp actually adds about a pearl or two in length to make up the difference.

 

[Katbran]

That pendant is so gorgeous ! Now what colour thread did you end up using ? The strand looks lovely !

 

[pattye]

I swear I posted on this thread yesterday, but, hmmm, nothing here at all. Glad to see you all are having fun and good success with the thread~up to 53 colors now, lol. Sorry about the thread breaking, though. I went through the same thing originally. I do find if I'm stringing baroques and drops, some can have a sharp top which can be gently smoothed with a polish pad or very fine file. I'm in restringing mode also.

You're doing a great job, BWeaves! The pistachios look terrific with the littleh pendant! And I love the pencil pencil skirt!! The blue baroque akoyas will be amazing too!

 

[BWeaves]

Mint on the pistachios and aqua on the silver blues.

A few months ago, I used sky on dark blue vietnamese akoyas.

But I really like the aqua on the silver blues, because they have a bit if an rose / aqua tone to them, while my darker Vietnamese blues lean a little more towards navy or purple.

I'll post a photo tomorrow when I have natural daylight.

Because I took out 2 pearls on the 10 mm BBAs, the strand is a bit shorter. 17 inches. I actually like that length better on me. It seems to lay nicer on my neck than the 18 inch + length. Although the pistachios are 18 1/2 inches and they look shorter, probably because they're smaller. I suspect they may lay lower on my neck in the back and therefore pull up in the front, while the heavier 10mm pearls drag on the back of my neck and hang lower.

Tomorrow I'll restring the 22 inch strand of silver blues. I thoroughly expect I'll end up removing 2 pearls.

 

[BWeaves]

What I've strung so far. Pistachio akoyas on mint. Silver blue akoyas on aqua. Dark blue Vietnamese akoyas on sky.



Then I scooped them all up and it was like a handful of soap bubbles.




If anyone wants the ball clasps, I'll make you a great deal or trade.

14K white gold smooth 8mm ball. 14K white gold laser sparkle 8mm ball from PP. 14K white gold laser sparkle 10mm ball from PP. Private message me if you're interested. I've replaced them all with orbit clasps, and I'm not looking back.



The weird ring around the smooth clasp is the edge of the paper towel at the bottom and the edge of the ruler at the top. It does have a perfect mirror finish and since I just got it there are no scratches on it.

 

[lmgarden]

BW, congratulations on the completion of your knotting projects - they look beautiful together! Sounds so daunting to me, as I don't how to knot. I even bought loose pearls in the hopes of learning, but ended up paying to have them strung!
You'll be so happy you switched to orbit clasps - it'll open you up to so many more looks and combinations! Can't wait to see what you come up with!