When I think about African beadwork, I envision lots of beads... a multitude of necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and headgear. The African Stripes String-Along has just started and I've been making swatches of bead crochet to check both patterns and colors. It occurred to me that I shouldn't waste those pieces as an armful of brightly colored bracelets would complement the pair of necklaces quite nicely. It isn't that hard to string 42" of beads and make the swatches into 7" bracelets. It's also the perfect place to use an art bead as the closure.
Marlene Brady had the same idea, but with great polymer accent disks. I hope more of the participants follow along and we see some different colored bracelets show up - enough for an armful.
Meanwhile, we've been busy talking about bead colors and types. This is an adventurous group as I've heard plans for doing the necklaces in 15's, 10 Delicas, and 11's. Can you mix Toho and Miyuki beads? I do and don't think it's a problem. However it can be a totally different story if you mix Japanese beads and Czech beads. Their shapes and sizes are different. If you want uniformity in a rope, it won't happen with that combination.
It's always a challenge to design to an image in one's mind and not have the beads force it into a different direction.