Hello my beading friends,

Well... Thank goodness we are on the east coast of Florida, and my heart goes out to my fellow Floridians on the other coast and where ever Ian might decide to do some damage. We are bound to get something here so we are just in wait and see mode. So lets talk about techniques. Above is the Russian Spiral "Northern Lights" kit photo. We have done several Russian Spirals, using crystals and crystals, crystals and pearls, crystals and triangles and so on. We have done in different sizes, and so far 3 sets or 4 sets around. I have a video on you tube which is 3 around. 4 around is the same with just one more section.

We do our Russian Spirals with a step up, some do not.

You can do it without any support inside, or you can use a cord, or rubber tubing which I found to be helpful. Even if you don't want to keep something inside to support the stitch it is helpful to work it on a small wooden dowel, like a skewer. We have closed it with glue on magnetic clasps, cones, toggles etc... Experiment. It also works with many different sizes of beads!

One thing to keep in mind... it is a little bit of a loose stitch so tension will be important, as well as a little heavier thread, and reinforcing.