Story of Val’s Sun Catcher, Crystals in a Ring

Val’s Sun catcher #20 Flora
developed from "This Morning" motif

Crystal in a ring
#20 Manuela

Flora or Manuela #20 cotton thread
18 x 4mm Swarovski® 5301 crystals (measured by depth of hole)
Bangle 2.5/8"
Brass curtain ring 3/4"
Ear loop or safety pin to gauge central picots
Picot gauge 9 mm for crystals over picots & 5/32" for decorative picots on chains
Load one bead onto thread & wind shuttle leaving a tail of about 2.1/2 yards
Hold this bead back on the shuttle until centre in complete

Centre Work round the curtain ring in a clockwise direction, wrapping ds using the split chain method á la Dora Young

Ch: <9 ---> 5 times, 9 Mock picot

Carefully thread the tail though the bead from the shuttle

Wrap the thread onto a card or shuttle to save tangles

A picot gauge is no use here, so place bead on thread & hold temporarily with a long earring loop. Tension.
Complete the next few ds & remove both bead & wire ready for next measured picot. This allows that little bit extra needed to get the hook in for the future join. Tension tightly all round, especially the first ds after measured picot

Once the centre is wrapped the starting tail needs to be threaded through the bead from the shuttle.
Now there are the two threads needed for the split ring

Outside Round lay magic threads in 1^st & last Ch to hide ends
SR: 5 -- 5 // 5 - 5 clr RW
Ch: 5 - 3 - 3 - 5 RW lay in magic thread at start

* SmR: 5 +B (last p SR) 5 - 5 clr RW
Ch: 5 - 3 - 3 - 5 RW
LR: 5 +B (last p last R) 5 - 5 - 5 clr RW
Ch: 5 - 3 - 3 - 5 RW
Repeat for * 5 times

SmR: 5 +B (last p last R) 5 +B (1^st p SR) 5 clr RW
Ch: 5 - 3 - 3 - 5 lay in magic thread at end
Cut tie & hide ends with magic threads

Finish using a fine thread to sew motif inside bangle. I do three wraps of the bangle then twice through centre picot of the chain, repeating all round. Ending so that the hanger is half way between chains & above a ring for balance

Note check centre R isn’t twisted before joining 1st LR

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