Flat Chenille Stitch

I had mentioned in a previous post the similarities between Pondo (African Circle stitch) and Chenille stitch.  Jean Powers posted a basic tutorial by Diana Balogh in Beading Daily.  It looked fairly simple except some of the turns were a bit complex. I spent several hours trying to bead the sample on the left from that tutorial and kept getting lost on the turns.  My solution, of course, was to make my own illustrations, breaking down the parts that confused me into different steps. 

While I was at it, my muse plunked some designs into my head so I made some graphs of those.  The heart on the right is the result of one of those.  I can't tell if the slight irregularity is a result of uneven tension (I know I got the start row too tight) or if the beads aren't as uniform as the yellow ones on the left.  I suspect it's a little of both.

Now that I've got the illustrations drawn and have sort of mastered the stitch, I hope to have an illustrated tutorial posted to my Hub Pages within the week.  Writing the accompanying article will be the hard part.

Wow! The year's nearly over.  Christmas this weekend.  I hope all of you stay safe on the highway if you're traveling, and that you have a very Merry Christmas. . .or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year.

A Look Back

I've had quite a bit of trouble getting on a schedule, communicating and creating for a long while now (ever since my first cataract surgery).  Lately, I've been pretty depressed thinking about my current productivity, so I decided to take a look back to see what I've accomplished. 

The picture above is of a bracelet made two years ago with Pondo (African Circle Stitch) and is a new stitch I'd just learned.  Learning new things usually keeps me going as I get bored and my inspiration lags continually using a stitch I'm familiar with.

Not long after that, as stated in the post linked above, I learned Authentic African Pondo. This is a much simpler stitch, but challenging and new to me, never the less.

Going back through my previous blogs and social media posts has shown me that I've slowed down but have still accomplished something worthwhile. 

Both of these patterns are available in my Craftsy Store, along with many other patterns featuring a wide variety of stitches.

Authentic Pondo Stitch

I've been playing around and creating a few items with Pondo or African Circle stitch.  It was a complicated stitch and I found it difficult to understand the few diagrams that I'd seen, but finally someone posted an understandable tutorial and I learned the stitch.

I created a couple of designs, Pondo Ripple shown here on the left and Delft Blue Tile on the right.

It is a complicated and time consuming stitch requiring a round-about thread path and weaving back to the start of each row, but it is a very sturdy fabric and I love it's semmetry.  It is worked with two sizes of beads, with the smaller bead sitting snugly in the center of the row between each square of 4 larger beads.

Then someone posted a link to Susan Mandel's blog and I discovered that this beautiful, semmetric, complex weave isn't the authentic stitch used by the Mpondo people in Africa.  The stitch they use is more straightforward, usually attached to a cord or beaded rope as it is worked, and is worked with a double strand of waxed thread to hold it in place and make it every bit as sturdy as the stitch I had just learned, but it is less semmetrical.  The accent beads between each square of 4 beads don't snuggle into the center of the row, they ride between the top beads of each square.  The authentic stitch is woven with all the same size beads.

Here is a picture of what I've done so far on a bracelet.  Even with the time it took to make the 7 inch herringbone rope, this swatch has taken less time than just making a couple of seven inch rows of the modified Pondo stitch.

Another difference is that the authentic Pondo stitch is always worked horizontally.

Be sure to check out Susan's blog for more details of the difference between the authentic stitch and the modified stitch and how the stitch came to be modified.

Visit bead doodler's Craftsy Pattern Store »


Visit bead doodler's Craftsy Pattern Store »

Pondo or African Circle Stitch

Oh my goodness I don't know where the last 7 months have gone.  I never did figure out anything unique to do with a beaded rope although I did create a few different types.
Then I finally found a tutorial for Pondo or African circle stitch that made sense to me and I was hooked on that for a while. The possibilities for designs are endless in the simple stitch and then there are all sorts of modifications you can make.  To the right you see my "Pondo Ripples" design worked in patriotic red, white and blue.  You can find the pattern for this at BeadPatternsBoutique
http://www.beadpatternsboutique.com/catalog/vendor/Pond_O_Ripples.html

Next I made a design that reminded me of a floral ceramic tile.  The original was shades of green, gold and purple, but it was a little busy.  I've always been a fan of the beautiful blue delft tile made popular by the Dutch in the 1800's so I set about changing the colors to shades of blue with white accents.  This design is a little more complex and I've found making the pattern very tedious because I'm illustrating each of 5 squares in each of 6 rows for a single repeat.  I hope to have it finished and published soon.

I've also written a tutorial for Basic Pondo. You'll find it here:  http://www.bubblews.com/news/833090-pondo-basics or you can click on the "My Stitch Tutorials" tab at the top of the page and follow the link.