Squaring the Circle

I picked up Beadwork’s Favorite Bead Stitches because I wanted to master a new technique – square stitch – and the cover featured Kate McKinnon’s fabulous Modern Art Cuff, which employs both square and RAW. Flipping through the square stitch projects, I decided to start with Jamie Hogsett’s Starry, Starry Night necklace because if you’re going to learn something square, why not attempt it in the round? And also because I was looking for a project to use a newly acquired glass pendant in lush plums and corals.




The beaded links work up just like flat square stitch, with the addition of occasional increases to adjust for the larger circumference in each successive round. I used lots of thread passes to give the round links some stiffness. I didn’t want any distortion, anticipating that they would be pulled a bit by the heft of the pendant.

I like the airy feel of this winter necklace, and would use this technique again if I needed a custom closure for a bracelet and couldn’t find a button in the exact color scheme I needed. Love these examples I found by Dustin Wedekind.