Adventure in Herringbone

My daughter Dani happened to be with me when I stopped into my local bead shop last week. While I looked for a few finishing touches for my kumihimo designs, Dani noticed a bracelet on the counter that went perfectly with her outfit. The colors were intriguing and the project was a simple design that could easily be finished in a single class, perfect for a beginner. When Amy, the shop owner, mentioned she was teaching that piece this week, we told her to sign us up.

Dani chose the same colors as the sample, and I pulled some blue and raspberry beads from the shelf. Soon Dani was breezing along on hers, the herringbone design working up quickly in the size 8 seed beads. Customers coming in and out of the store invariably pegged us as a mother-daughter team, some questioning the wisdom of my exposing Dani to the lure and sparkle of molten, polished glass. Could a single household actually support more than one beadaholic?

We spent a fun afternoon, and picked up the perfect buttons to finish off our bracelets at Jo-Ann’s on our way home. Dani reworked her design today, preferring a more delicate mix of Swarovski crystals to the all-turquoise strip in the original. I think it was a good design call - but is a bead obsession developing? Not too worried - when I invited her to come along to the Down the Street Bead Show this afternoon, she politely declined.