Bracelet of the Day: Octopus

 OCTOPUS BRACELET

• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Green Picasso"
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Marbled Opaque Pink/Amethyst" (TR-11-1203/c)
• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• Clasp and jump rings

This free bracelet pattern with the funny name can be found on Mu's "Centperles Ateliers" blog. Go to THIS page and click on the word "Octopus" just under the photo on that page, it will open a PDF file which you can save to your computer.

I've had this pattern in my stash for a very long time but never got around to trying it until recently. Teejay made this bracelet for me for Christmas but it was a little too short. So, I took it apart and re-made it so I got to finally try out the pattern.

The method is a little unusual in that you make a sort of "core" of beads that you later embellish. It's not obvious at first glance but this is a 2-needle pattern. I tried it first with one needle but it didn't turn out right. Once you have the core built, you can switch to using one needle at a time to add the embellishments along the edges.

I changed the way that the clasp is attached, as you can see in my

photos. My clasp loop beads come out of the outside holes of the SuperDuo beads on the ends. Teejay and I both used 15/0 seed beads for the netting along the edges instead of the 11/0 seed beads called for. Because Teejay used smaller beads, she put an extra 15/0 seed bead on either side of the 11/0 accent beads between each scallop. I'd like to try the pattern again with 11/0 seed beads for the netting sometime to see how it looks but I like it this way just fine. For this particular bracelet I wanted to re-make it the same way that Teejay had originally made it for me. Made this way, it comes out about 5/8" wide and it has a very soft, flexible feel to it that is very nice. I used Nymo D thread in a light khaki color. Black thread showed too much between the pale colored beads that Teejay and I used.

One thing that I would probably change the next time I make this is to decrease the number of seed beads in the four scallops closest to the ends of the bracelet. Those two end motifs are a little shorter than the rest so the netting sticks up a bit there. I'm not sure yet if I would use three or four seed beads instead of five. It really doesn't look bad the way it is though and the ends don't show much anyway when I'm wearing it. It might be more noticeably crowded though using 11/0 seed beads for the netting. I'm looking forward to trying this pattern in some other color combinations.