I have instructions for this necklace from the German crochet bead forum Perlenhaekeln. Sylvia, a friend of mine, forwarded me their newsletter at the end of last year. I like to have a portable project ready to go – and Beading for a Cure usually isn’t – so I opened it up to retrieve this twisted herringbone variation. The instructions are written by Ute Kluwe, and is a variation on the twisted herringbone by Leslie Frazier. It combines straight herringbone, with sections of that twisted herringbone.

It uses size 11 seed beads and 1.5 mm Miyuki cubes. I don’t have any Miyuki cubes on hand, but I have some tiny Czech cubes that I purchased years ago. They’re matte montana ab, a difficult color to find a companion color.

Attempt one:

I love this Italian opalescent blue, but it’s too dark for the cubes. Also, these are 10s, and make the diameter larger.

Attempt two:

This just isn’t very exciting. At this point, I’m hunting for a stronger contrast with the cubes. Which ARE montana blue, trust me — they look almost black here.

Attempt three:

Yes! This is what I’m doing. It brightens it, and using the lined bead emphasizes the sections of twisted herringbone. Now I’ve got a portable project ready for when I want to bead away from home.