Morse Code Necklace

A summer Beading Daily blog post on Cellini Spiral describes a finicky sort of beader who buys beads and components for projects in the exact quantities needed - down to the exact number of seed beads and all. Not only does this sound frustrating to a bead collector like me - all those counts and calculations! - but it doesn't sound like much fun either. One of my greatest sources for inspiration is my collection of beads. Each time I pull out my carefully organized trays, I discover a new combination of colors and shapes to use.

The Inspiration:

These pretty blue rectangle shells have been calling to me for some time now, waiting for the right bead partners or color palette to set off my creativity. I have been having so much fun with shell coins and ovals lately that I was determined to finally put them to good use.

As I was mentally sketching different patterns and ideas, it occurred to me that by pairing them with round shells, I could create the dots and dashes patterns used in Morse code.

The Beads:

I considered many different palettes to use with the rectangles, and finally decided on a nautical combination of yellow, white and navy blue. I also added some teal colored 11/o seed beads to tie everything together. For the Morse code dots, I used yellow shell coins, which are roughly the same size as the blue rectangle "dashes".

The Beadwork:

The most obvious pattern choice for a Morse code design is, of course, S.O.S. I strung the circles and rectangles between seed beads, alternating between bright sunny yellow and a combination of white and navy. To make the beadwork strong, and keep it metal free, I tied off the threads in two peyote stitch circles - they bear a convenient resemblance to the portholes on a ship!

Copyright 2009 Inspirational Beading