“When working with a product it is important to get physical and try out different materials in the product design,” said my design teacher.

Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t, but it is important to TRY. And maybe fail. But keep an open mind…you never know…

The first necklace I ever crocheted was made with some deep red beads I had bought years before at a flea market in France. Their deep red color was irresistible.

I’m not sure where I got the thread, it was either from my grandmother’s stash or from a grab bag of miscellaneous thread purchased at a large craft store chain.

I had the idea to have another, slightly larger bead slide over the smaller red beads. I found a perfect ruby red bead that was slightly larger, but I had to enlarge the hole. I did this with a dremel tool.

I had never reamed out the inside of a bead before and I had never crocheted with beads.

There was a little bit of a learning curve with the crochet, but it worked out. I strung the beads first then did one plain stitch, one bead, one plain stitch, one bead. The first necklace took me about a month of crocheting during my kid’s piano lessons. Slowly, slowly, the strand grew.

When the crochet was done, I managed to drill a larger hole in the pendant bead and it slipped perfectly around the crocheted smaller beads.

I loved it.

And then I tried to do it again.

First, every bead I tried to ream would crack and break. But I knew it was possible, since I had done it before. I eventually figured out that I needed to go slow and use water to keep the bead cool. Also, I figured out that I could just hold the bead with my fingers instead of with vice grips. The dremel tool moved fast, but it would not hurt my fingers if I brushed up against it.

Then I ran out of thread. I tried to find more and discovered that the size “EE” nylon thread was no longer available. It was vintage thread. Currently available thread was either significantly thinner, made for bead weaving, or thicker, for macrame.

And then as I ran out of beads, I went out and bought more. But they were different too! All beads are not the same! Wha? I soon found out that the beads I had used were also a vintage size and slightly larger than the normal 11/0 beads that are common everywhere today. Today, with more precision manufacturing techniques, sizes are more standard.

The color also proved to be a problem. It had to be just the right rich red. Not too bright and not too dark. The perfect juicy, ruby red. I found 11/0 beads in this color but slightly larger beads were harder to find. And the pendant bead no longer seemed to come in the same red. There was a bright “siam” red and a dark “garnet” red, but the deep ruby red I sought was scarce.

There are so many ways I could have failed with this first necklace. However, through sheer dumb luck, I hit upon a very nice combination of just the right size bead in proportion to the thread, just the right color, and successfully reamed out a bead on the first try. Eventually, with smaller, currently available thread, currently manufactured 11/0 beads, and adjusting my stitching pattern, I was able to recreate the proportions and look I desired with modern materials. And eventually, through trial and error, I became an expert bead reamer. But I marvel at how many ways this first necklace might not have existed.

Everything aligned to work out that first time. If it hadn’t, I might have thought it wasn’t possible or that it was a bad idea. Especially after a month of piano lessons.

I consider the red infinity necklace my “signature” piece and it is still one of my best selling necklaces today.