[Broken Arrow]

WD's personal recommendation is

Originally Posted by wardancer

I use size 11 czech beads , but that's just personal preference. 7 on a row , Cheyenne style lazy stich. It lays flatter.

Consider a pattern which will require 11,13,15,17,19 or 21 beads.
All rows seven beads that is two rows of seven beads for an 11 or 13 bead pattern and three rows for a 15,17,19 or 21 bead pattern?

Than there are except for the 21 bead pattern background color beads part of the pattern?


There is something else I observed and don't have a clue to the considerations to do in this way. The circumferential pattern on a moc is vertical while the other rows on the upper are horizontal if one looks from the toe.

Mocs and their beading have a long tradition and I have not seen an example where it is done otherwise in lazy stitch.

[wardancer]

If I'm doing something small . like baby or toddler mocs , sometimes I only use 5 per row. If I'm filling in an area already completed on 2 sides I will go as many as 9 , but if it takes more than 9 I just make a row of 5 and a row of 6....or 5 + 5 , 7+5 , split the difference. In my opinion once you go past 9 your beads will sag once the thread stretches.And I've never found a thread that doesn't stretch ! Also , I do Cheyenne style lazy stitch , different than Lakota style !

[OLChemist]

It isn't a good idea to get more beads per lane than 9. It gets too sloppy looking and is prone to snagging. Having a lane with one more or one less bead is not uncommon at all.

Originally Posted by Broken Arrow

There is something else I observed and don't have a clue to the considerations to do in this way. The circumferential pattern on a moc is vertical while the other rows on the upper are horizontal if one looks from the toe.

Mocs and their beading have a long tradition and I have not seen an example where it is done otherwise in lazy stitch.

Not following the shape of the edge on a mocc. What an odd idea, LOL. It won't even look like a beaded mocc.

My point is, like all artistic forms, tribal styles of beadwork have their stylistic conventions. These are thing defined by both the use and what "looks right." These conventions arise from practical and esthetic considerations. It's a little like asking why a Pieta always has Mary and Jesus's dead body; that's what the form requires to be a Pieta.

Among my people beadwork descends from quill work. Many of quillwork's conventions were transferred directly to beadwork. The contrasting lane of circumferential design on moccs is one of these. I suspect that the reason for the direction change in quillwork is that it offers some resistance to the snagging and stresses during walking. But, also it is esthetically satisfying to surround the foot with a band of a differing direction and pattern, like the contrast of the sky touching the earth.

Quilled moccs

Quilled baby moccs

Quilled moccs

[Broken Arrow]

Originally Posted by wardancer

If I'm doing something small . like baby or toddler mocs , sometimes I only use 5 per row. If I'm filling in an area already completed on 2 sides I will go as many as 9 , but if it takes more than 9 I just make a row of 5 and a row of 6....or 5 + 5 , 7+5 , split the difference. In my opinion once you go past 9 your beads will sag once the thread stretches.And I've never found a thread that doesn't stretch ! Also , I do Cheyenne style lazy stitch , different than Lakota style !

You saved the day.

Then one row 7 beads and the other row 6 beads for a total of 13 beads for the pattern. With 13 beads the pattern looks better, the proportions of the elements than seems just to be right. 9 Beads looks wrong.

I take your word on the nine beads and the stretch of thread.

I know, that I know only tiny bits. I only know the lazy stitch which is described in those books you get a Crazy Crow. In those books nobody distinguishes between Cheyenne and Lakota lazy stitch or may eyes are already too bad to recognize.

[Broken Arrow]

Originally Posted by OLChemist

Having a lane with one more or one less bead is not uncommon at all.

Saves the day really. I have not seen enough originals to recognize.

Originally Posted by OLChemist

Not following the shape of the edge on a mocc. What an odd idea, LOL. It won't even look like a beaded mocc.

Perhaps someone tried a very long time ago and ended up with what you argue below.

Originally Posted by OLChemist

My point is, like all artistic forms, tribal styles of beadwork have their stylistic conventions. These are thing defined by both the use and what "looks right." These conventions arise from practical and esthetic considerations. It's a little like asking why a Pieta always has Mary and Jesus's dead body; that's what the form requires to be a Pieta.

That is as close as it can be. This it "looks right" is convincing.

Originally Posted by OLChemist

Many of quillwork's conventions were transferred directly to beadwork.

I suspect that the reason for the direction change in quillwork is that it offers some resistance to the snagging and stresses during walking.

But, also it is esthetically satisfying to surround the foot with a band of a differing direction and pattern, like the contrast of the sky touching the earth.

Quilled moccs

Looking at the last example, I assume that the esthetic considerations are the more decisive factor.

[OLChemist]

It is my understanding that the differentiation between Cheyenne style and Lakota style is the placement of the stitch relative to the previous lane of beadwork. In Cheyenne style, the thread is stitched through the hide behind/beneath the prior row. In Lakota, the stitch is placed in the same line as the prior row.

The Cheyenne style stitch placement tensions the new row against the prior row. This has the effect of making the beadwork less humped, although this is not the only factor determining how humped the lanes are.

[wardancer]

Originally Posted by OLChemist

It is my understanding that the differentiation between Cheyenne style and Lakota style is the placement of the stitch relative to the previous lane of beadwork. In Cheyenne style, the thread is stitched through the hide behind/beneath the prior row. In Lakota, the stitch is placed in the same line as the prior row.

The Cheyenne style stitch placement tensions the new row against the prior row. This has the effect of making the beadwork less humped, although this is not the only factor determining how humped the lanes are.

Cheyenne style lazy stitch doesn't "stitch" on both ends ! First row does , but the second row hooks the threads on the first row. It only causes a problem if the first row of beads break ! LOL In the pic you can see I sew down the first row. the other rows will"hook" to that row.

[Broken Arrow]

Such valuable explanations are worth to be saved for the future in redundant ways as a collection of guides in an practical sequence.

I assume that the thread you use is not endless. Or what length of thread has been found to be practical?

Beginning the second rows, the thread is first tied to the buckskin and then hooked to or through a last bead of a row of the first lanes?

I looks as if you have doubled the thread. On beads size ten Nymo D goes at least four times through the hole of the bead. Sometimes not.

If the thread of the first row breaks you'll have a little problem.

[OLChemist]

Originally Posted by wardancer

Cheyenne style lazy stitch doesn't "stitch" on both ends ! First row does , but the second row hooks the threads on the first row.

OH! Now I understand.

Lordy, you might be sterner stuff than I to turn moccs stitched that way, LOL.

WD, pretty, pretty, btw.

[OLChemist]

10/0's! Boy, you're beadin' with truck tires, LOL.

This is the way this wimp, who has to have her beads firmly attached the hide on both ends, does it.

On 11/0's I use doubled D nymo with lots of wax. I cut a piece about twice as long as my forearm. I don't like to use too long a piece. Even waxed, the thread frays as you work and if your hide is stiff or you're using canvas, if can get pretty ratty by the end. Besides, smaller sections between knots limits the amount of loss if a thread breaks or gets cut while in use.

Inside the lane, underneath where I'm going to bead, I run the needle under the hide for about a 1/4", at a distance of roughly 1/2" from where I want to start my new thread. I tie a knot through a section of hide, fastening the thread to the skin. I do this a second time, moving to almost where I'm going to start. I trim the "tail" flush with the hide. Finally, I bring my needle up through the hide to the starting point.

At the end of the thread, I repeat the same knotting procedure. If I'm at the end of the lane, I run the thread and knots under the row.

[wardancer]

Originally Posted by OLChemist

On 11/0's I use doubled D nymo with lots of wax. I cut a piece about twice as long as my forearm. I don't like to use too long a piece. Even waxed, the thread frays as you work and if your hide is stiff or you're using canvas, if can get pretty ratty by the end. Besides, smaller sections between knots limits the amount of loss if a thread breaks or gets cut while in use.

Inside the lane, underneath where I'm going to bead, I run the needle under the hide for about a 1/4", at a distance of roughly 1/2" from where I want to start my new thread. I tie a knot through a section of hide, fastening the thread to the skin. I do this a second time, moving to almost where I'm going to start. I trim the "tail" flush with the hide. Finally, I bring my needle up through the hide to the starting point.

At the end of the thread, I repeat the same knotting procedure. If I'm at the end of the lane, I run the thread and knots under the row.

same , same ! When I end my thread I run it on under the hide , into the center of the beading lane . Then I'll tack a couple stitches overlapping then trim it close and melt with a lighter. Same as a knot only lazier ! LOL The beads hide it. When I get all done I try to work the thread under to an edge or inside so it doesn't show.

[wardancer]

Oh , that pic is part of a set I made last year for a guy up in The Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Tradish guy ! I did cuffs first , then armbands , then side tabs , then mocs !
Yes, I said the 'F' word
Yes, I said the 'F' word
Yes, I said the 'F' word
Yes, I said the 'F' word

[Broken Arrow]

Truck Tires for small feet!

What I intended to say I have expressed in a misleading way it seems.
I'll make a sketch and post it later.

Would be glad, if I could watch in real and learn.

Looks great WD. Hope there are serials to admire in the future.

[OLChemist]

I have an electric torch ignitor and an acetylene torch, a camp stove and matches, or a really nice Weller soldering iron I'm not getting anywhere near melting nylon. I can put in 20 or 30 knots before I can come up with a suitable ignition source, LOL.

[wardancer]

Originally Posted by OLChemist

I have an electric torch ignitor and an acetylene torch, a camp stove and matches, or a really nice Weller soldering iron I'm not getting anywhere near melting nylon. I can put in 20 or 30 knots before I can come up with a suitable ignition source, LOL.

No "Bic" lighter ???

[OLChemist]

It's my white blood. I can't help it.

[OLChemist]

I'm called the Asbestos Chemist.

When I was in grad school, I was on the grad student safety committee. Among other responsibilities, we trained lab assistants in the use of fire extinguishers. The local fire department would send a trainer but we provided the solvents and fire. One year, lighting the fires fell to me.

We did this little exercise on the lawn, in front of the grad student pub. Did I mention, during the first day of freshman orientation. We had a good and vocal audience of grad students on the lam from their labs and slightly alarmed looking parents.

Being August in Houston, it was in the upper 90's with 95%+ relative humidity. We were burning waste acetone in an large evaporating dish. At that temperature, the acetone was evaporating almost as fast as I poured. And fire fighter launched into a long speech right after I filled the dish. I could see the schlieren lines along the heavier-than-air solvent vapor front as it flowed out of the dish and along the table. After a few minutes the vapors began streaming down onto the grass.

I was getting more and more nervous, visualizing a big fire ball along the ground and table top. All I had to light this mess was a piece of Pyrex tubing, into which I was to fit a lit kitchen match. The tubing was no where near as long as I would have liked. And the match didn't fit too well. And our fire fighter friend was just talking and talking, while I was frantically trying to remember the lower flammability limit for acetone.

By the time, the fireman gestured for me to light the solvent, my hands were shaking. I broke a half a dozen matches, before I got the first one lit. Then I extinguished the match trying to get it into the tubing. Next I tried throwing the a couple, only to have them drop rapidly toward acetone and go out. No fire. People started heckling. I tried the tubing again. No joy.

After a week -- OK, two minutes of agony -- I looked up. Our fighter fighter friend was doubled over, fist shoved in his mouth to stifle his laughter. When he saw me looking at him, he took the matches and gracefully flipped on into bowl, which bust into flames.

At the end, he thanked the "Asbestos Chemist" for her "able" assistance. The name stuck.

In '98 I was giving a poster at the national ACS meeting in Boston, when I heard someone on the walkway over the main lobby in Copley Center yelling, "It's the Asbestos Chemist." I looked up to spy a colleague from my grad school days. My postdoc adviser, the other postdoc in the lab, one of our grad students and the undergrad RA were all looking at me. Our research group studied collision vibrational energy partitioning. Research which was funded by the Office of Naval Research and the Air Force because of it's applicability to disguising rocket and jet engine combustion signatures.

I still fail to enjoy the irony.


(Oh, GAK! I should have put yesterday's iced tea in the fridge; it's fermented into really foul near beer.)

[Broken Arrow]

The scan could be better.

Think I got it what to do for cheyenne stitch. I do another pair of mocs with truck tire beads. I have to take what beads I have.

[wardancer]

I can't tell on paper ! LOL I'll try to do a short video clip or series of pics to show how I learned to do it. Maybe in the next day or 2-3......

[OLChemist]

OK, I think I decrypted your diagram. It was a bit faint in places. Your first illustration looks like fairly standard lane stitch....

Your second, well, I've never seen anything like that. Doesn't the thread stick out like a sore thumb? ("Sticking out like a sore thumb" is an expression that means something is very obvious.) I'd be worried that things would snag on those tender little threads and break them. Bye bye beads.

Some goodies from Cheyenne-Arapahoe TV in OK. The videos are not in order, but there are many hours of happy viewing.

Making Regalia -- Playlist