Urban Stripes ~ 5th Section

The 5th section of the Urban Stripes has the second spot color in a stair step pattern. I used a matte sea foam blue-green that is reminiscent of one of the graffiti photos that I started with. After it was crocheted, I was thinking that the yellow eyes would have looked better with the dark red beads. It would have been less of a stark contrast. When the necklace is doubled this portion will lie next to the first silver spot color. I guess I must think of a city as matte as only the red and orange beads are shiny in this piece.

I'm quite happy with the overall flow of this necklace and I think I'm capturing the Urban feel that I envisioned when I started this project.

Members Progress

Sandy is a Bead Society of New Hampshire member who does not Blog and she brought her rope to last week's meeting. She takes some of my patterns to the next level. She brought a Diamonds & Daggers example with her that was done with lentils and large daggers. If you're going to flaunt your beadwork, that necklace certainly did it. Her Urban Stripe is coming along nicely and I especially like the use of the silver in the 3rd section to point up the Railroadness (can that be a real word?)of the tracks.

Tobie's light colored rope has quite a Native look to it. I like the primary colors against the light background.

Sue is getting the Michigan feel into her necklace; city greenbelts and light rail come through quite clearly.

Some of the ladies have been crocheting more than one necklace, chomping at the bit, waiting for the next section. I issued all of them a challenge to try and keep them busy in between times. It was to take section 4 and make a bracelet out of it. Peggy came up with two rather delightful variations. See how she used the same chevron motifs and then reversed them?

What can be more classic than black & white? Karen's is a real classic. Look close, she's used white beads that have a black stripe on them.

Here's a rather regal, subtle version. Doreen was complaining that she didn't think there was enough contrast. It reminds me of 5th Ave, furs and pearls in a bygone era - pure elegance.

This color combination is another favorite of mine - city in a fog...
The matted, grayed out colors are such a nice contrast to the primary colored ropes.

Same patterns, neat how different they all can look. Amy's necklace is close to the original colors, but with her own personality. The touch of green is refreshing.

Julie's use of the Miyuki beads adds that touch of angularity that is seen in most Urban landscapes. Again, the light background accents the patterns in all of the sections.

What's Next?

There is one more section left to do and it will tie things together. We'll have to make individual adjustments to size and make sure the pattern will seamlessly tie into the first section. Then we can struggle with an invisible join or cheat and use a focal bead between the two ends.

I expect to see some change in direction with both Section #5 & #6. Some members have voiced a fear of running out of the background colored beads. I've given them a couple of alternatives here to conserve background colors. It will be interesting to see who uses them and just what they do with it.