Nereid necklace

By Spotlight

“The Greek myths tell us of the fifty beautiful sea nymphs or nereid companions of Poseidon who come to the aid of sailors who find themselves in peril fighting dangerous storms.

The necklace brings together the azure colours of the Mediterranean Sea and the pebbled textures of the shoreline. Although this necklace is made in shades of turquoise it is an excellent project to use up all your odd beads from any colour selection.”
Project supplied by Christine & Julie Ashford.

Final Result

Materials

• 20m of pale blue 0.315mm soft-tempered wire (beading wire)
• 5g of assorted turquoise shades of seed beads - sizes 10/0 to 8/0
• 35 x 4mm to 8mm assorted beads to tone including some 4mm crystal bicones
• 60cm each of three toning colours of 7 strand flexible beading wire (tiger tail)
• 8 x French crimps
• 2 x small jump rings
• clasp
• wire cutters
• flat nosed pliers or crimping pliers
• pair of 4mm metal knitting needles

Step 1

Instructions

Note: The Nereid Necklace centres on a knitted triangle of beaded wire. The triangle is then embellished with more beads and twisted stamens before being threaded up into a necklace with three strands of flexible wire.

Step 2

Knitting the triangle
The triangle is made in plain knit. To start to build up the texture on the necklace front the seed beads are threaded onto the wire before beginning the knit - these beads are then lifted up into the work on alternate rows.

All the decoration should be on the front side of the triangle only so the back remains smooth against the skin when worn.

Unravel the end of the wire and thread on a 60cm length of the assorted seed beads. Push these beads down towards the reel to free up the end of the wire.

Leave a 1m tail of wire at the start and cast on 25 stitches. Knit the next row.
*Next row: knit two together;
**pick up three seed beads and knit the next stitch.
Repeat from ** to the last two stitches.
Knit the last two stitches together. Knit the next row without adding any beads to the stitches.
Repeat the last two rows until you have 3 stitches remaining.
Knit three together and cast off the last stitch leaving a 1.5m tail of wire.
Gently tease the knitted wire into a triangular shape with the cast on row along the neck edge of the shape.

Step 3

Twisted stamens
Thread 3 seed beads onto the 1.5m end of wire and hold 3cm from the edge of the knitted triangle.

Fold the wire about the cluster of three beads to make a loop 3cm long with the seed beads at the end (fig 1 - diagram below).

Pinch the two sides of the wire together at the edge of the triangle and twist to form a rope between the edge of the triangle and the beads (fig 2 - diagram below).

Making small stitches weave the end of the wire along the edge of the triangle for 1cm and make a second twisted stamen.

Repeat at 1cm intervals along both lower edges of the triangle.

Curl the stamens around the knitting needles to soften the edges of the triangle shape.

Step 4

The embellishment
Put aside two 6mm and two 4mm matching beads for the strap.

Weave the cast-on and cast-off ends of the wire through to the middle of the front of the triangle.

Use these two ends of the wire to stitch the remaining beads onto the front of the triangle to build up the textured surface you see in the main picture.

Add one bead at a time (fig 3 diagram below) and make small random stitches to lock all of the beads tightly together.

When all the beads are attached hide the cut ends of the wire inside an adjacent bead.

Step 5

The straps
Take one 60cm length of stranded beading wire and weave through the back of the triangle from the top corner on one side through to the top corner on the other leaving the triangle in the centre of the length.

Repeat with the other two strands (fig 4 - diagram below).

Work on one side of the design at a time. Thread all three ends of the flexible wire through one crimp, one of the reserved 6mm beads and a second crimp and push down to the edge of the triangle - do not squash these crimps yet.

Thread on one more crimp and position it 1cm short of where you want this side of the necklace to finish.

Squash the crimp flat with your pliers to secure the wire (fig 5 - diagram below).

Trim back the shortest two ends of the wire (fig 6 - diagram below).

Thread on one of the 4mm reserved beads and push up to the crimp.

Thread on one crimp. Bend the end of the wire over and thread back through the end crimp and the 4mm bead.

Pull on the end of the wire to reduce the end loop down to 3mm in diameter (fig 7 - diagram below).

Squash the last crimp flat to secure the loop and trim away the excess wire.

Repeat to make an identical strap from the three wire strands at the other side of the necklace.

Position the 6mm beads 1cm from either side of the triangle and squash the crimps flat either side of the bead to secure.

Use the jump rings to attach the clasp to the back of the design.

Note

Diagram of fig 1, 2 & 3

Note

Diagram of fig 4, 5, 6 & 7