Cane

Keely · 02-27-2003, 07:45 PM

Two years ago I began to bead a walking cane in 14 cut beads in a Cheyenne stitch. There are almost thirty thousand beads on the cane, and a ways to go yet. I had not worked on it in a year but thinking of starting on it again.

Anyone else work on a project like this?

Blackbear · 02-28-2003, 04:10 AM

I was thinking about beading my can before i need it again... but you certainly are bold beading it with that small a bead LOL!! I'm not exactly lazy..but that is alot of coverage to me !! I think I will be using 11's on mine...13cuts the smallest . And I will be using peyote stitch.

Now I do have a question though. A few of us have said that it is a pain to do brick stitch around something... how is it going for you? Any tips?

Keely · 02-28-2003, 02:18 PM

I have some pictures of the cane but they are too big to post so I will post as soon as I get the jpg smaller.

I have been brick stitching for ten years so it comes very easy for me, and the stitch I prefer to use. I have come up with all kinds of short cuts.

When I began my cane I covered it in skin first, this cane will be beaded all the way, even the handle. I dont think going inside the curve of the handle will be all that difficult because my needles always get a curve to them! LOL and my doctor told me if I needed one of his skinny little curved skin stitching needles he would be happy to give me one.

Many people have asked me why I decided on this project, and the answer is pretty simple... in 1999 my son had a brain tumor removed, he was 18 years old and had to learn how to walk again, when he used his cane, people stared at him, this upset him, so I decided that if people wanted to stare, I would give them something to stare at. My son no longer needs a cane, but I am not going to leave it unfinished.

The cane I got I paid 3.00 for it at a second hand store, it is all wooden. The new prices on canes are just too high! Or the cane is metal adjustable, that just wouldnt work.

Keely · 03-02-2003, 12:13 AM

OK here is a photo

I dont like the bottom color of yellow, and orange, so I am going to rip that out.

Keely · 03-02-2003, 12:14 AM

Here is a second photo

webscouter · 03-02-2003, 12:33 AM

That is really beautiful work Keely. Do you live any where near Wichita? I am going there on buisness on Monday and would love to see the cane in person. Maybe you could give me a short class Monday night.

Keely · 03-02-2003, 12:43 AM

Actually yes I do live near Wichita, I am in Salina that is a hour and a half north of Wichita... I was born and raised in Wichita

I am getting ready to start a small project, a pocket knife for my father in law and it would be perfect to show anyone! The best bead supplier lives in Wichita too. He sells beads and such from his home.

You can e-mail me at kdenning@cox.net

Blackbear · 03-02-2003, 04:52 AM

:JawDrop DAaaannnnnnnggggggggggggg!!! Man that is so gorgeous!!!! Not at all what I was expecting...not that I was'nt expecting gorgeous..but the pattern is more than I expected...this just blows me away!!

**spottedeagle** · 03-02-2003, 08:23 AM

Keely your cane is absolutely beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!

NancyJo · 03-02-2003, 10:43 AM

I'm trying not to sound redundant here......
but that is one BEAUTIFUL cane!!!!!!!

Fantastic beadwork.......you are doing a great job!
Hang in there with it and post a picture when you get it done.

The red and orange look good.

Keely · 03-02-2003, 04:03 PM

Thank you for your kind compliments, the pattern is my own. I very rarely work from a pattern, I make mine up as I go along. I get a idea in my head of what I want, and then work it out as I go along.

Keely · 03-02-2003, 04:11 PM

Thank you for your kind compliment. I read your profile, I too work for our local Sheriff's Department... I do research and a cold case Jane Doe homicide.

Keely · 03-02-2003, 04:16 PM

Thank you for your kind compliment :o)

I need to go to Wichita and get more beads before I can finish it. I hope to be working on it again very soon, as my husband is nursing a broken hand right now and so I find a little more time on my hands, that is when I am not taking care of him LOL

randyinkc · 03-03-2003, 02:28 PM

Keely-

Thats some good work! I'm impressed....

I understand the feeling of tackling a monumental project like that. I'm nearing the end of my vest and it is just about to drive me crazy....However, the good news is that I anticipate the beading to be done in about 2 weeks. All that I will have left is to sew in the lining and do the edge trim.

The one issue you will have with beading the handle of the cane wont necessarily be from getting to the stitch on the inside curve but will be from how the beads will lay in the project in general. The top side of the handle has a greater circumference than the bottome side of the curve of the handle. You will find as you nead over the top that your row will begin to "shift" on you so that your row wont stay perpindicular to the shaft of the cane.

I found this out when I sat down once to bead the outside rim of a dreamcatcher. I dont know if this will make sense to you as I have had a hard time explaining this problem. I'll see if I can take a picture of the dreamcatcher and hope that the picture will explain it a little better.

The solution I found was add partial rows on the outer edge to try and compensate for the row shift. I have yet to finish that project so I'm not sure that my fix is goodl, but I know it was causing me all kinds of problems. Not to mention that its very hard to maintain your pattern when you try to bead a curve like that. Thats just been my experience with beading something curved like that. If you know a secret to make it come out, please share!

Keely · 03-03-2003, 03:21 PM

Randy,

I have that curve figured out... thats where odd size beads will be used, the wider ones to the outside and skinnier ones to the inside of the handle. Odd size beads is one of the reasons I like brick so well... when your rows get off a little, you dont have to rip out, just make the difference up with odd beads over several rows and it all blends in :o)

randyinkc · 03-03-2003, 04:25 PM

Good enough! Just wanted to warn you, I hadnt thought of that detail when I attempted to do something on a curve like that and it was a pain.

If careful selection of your bead size doesnt give you enough space you can always add in an extra partial row.....

Keely · 03-03-2003, 04:32 PM

Oh yeah, I have thought about the parital row! But we do get those really skinny beads... gotta use them somewhere! :)

I know a woman who throws out all her odd size beads, such a waste!

Blackbear · 03-03-2003, 06:31 PM

Randy are you using gourd stitch or the two drop peyote? I found that beading a ring like for a dreamcatcher works just fine if I use a 2 drop peyote...but is easier the larger the ring.

Tsiniti · 03-03-2003, 07:12 PM

There are times I have to use a cane, I have three or four .... none of them plain, but none as gorgeous as yours either! The one I get the most laughs out of is NEON PINK, it used to be a crook over 6 ft long, and they thought it would be a joke to cut it off and give it to me for a cane, NOPE my favorite color... plus I don't have to worry about ruining it.

I can't bead ..... nor can I imagine having the patience to do what you have done .... as I said, simply gorgeous!!

02-27-2003, 07:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
Keely Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 31	Cane Two years ago I began to bead a walking cane in 14 cut beads in a Cheyenne stitch. There are almost thirty thousand beads on the cane, and a ways to go yet. I had not worked on it in a year but thinking of starting on it again. Anyone else work on a project like this?

02-28-2003, 04:10 AM	#2 (permalink)
Blackbear Space Cowboy Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Alaska Posts: 9,618	I was thinking about beading my can before i need it again... but you certainly are bold beading it with that small a bead LOL!! I'm not exactly lazy..but that is alot of coverage to me !! I think I will be using 11's on mine...13cuts the smallest . And I will be using peyote stitch. Now I do have a question though. A few of us have said that it is a pain to do brick stitch around something... how is it going for you? Any tips? __________________ Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear... just sing, sing a song.

03-02-2003, 12:33 AM	#6 (permalink)
webscouter Senior Dancer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Kansas City Posts: 623	That is really beautiful work Keely. Do you live any where near Wichita? I am going there on buisness on Monday and would love to see the cane in person. Maybe you could give me a short class Monday night. __________________ One vote wonder.

03-02-2003, 04:52 AM	#8 (permalink)
Blackbear Space Cowboy Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Alaska Posts: 9,618	:JawDrop DAaaannnnnnnggggggggggggg!!! Man that is so gorgeous!!!! Not at all what I was expecting...not that I was'nt expecting gorgeous..but the pattern is more than I expected...this just blows me away!! __________________ Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear... just sing, sing a song.

03-02-2003, 08:23 AM	#9 (permalink)
spottedeagle FANMAKR Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Soaring over you Posts: 4,474	Keely your cane is absolutely beautiful!!!!!!!!!!! __________________ The things you are doing today are the traditions of twenty-five years from now. -Daryl Baldwin: Miami

02-28-2003, 02:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
Keely Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 31	I have some pictures of the cane but they are too big to post so I will post as soon as I get the jpg smaller. I have been brick stitching for ten years so it comes very easy for me, and the stitch I prefer to use. I have come up with all kinds of short cuts. When I began my cane I covered it in skin first, this cane will be beaded all the way, even the handle. I dont think going inside the curve of the handle will be all that difficult because my needles always get a curve to them! LOL and my doctor told me if I needed one of his skinny little curved skin stitching needles he would be happy to give me one. Many people have asked me why I decided on this project, and the answer is pretty simple... in 1999 my son had a brain tumor removed, he was 18 years old and had to learn how to walk again, when he used his cane, people stared at him, this upset him, so I decided that if people wanted to stare, I would give them something to stare at. My son no longer needs a cane, but I am not going to leave it unfinished. The cane I got I paid 3.00 for it at a second hand store, it is all wooden. The new prices on canes are just too high! Or the cane is metal adjustable, that just wouldnt work.

03-02-2003, 12:43 AM	#7 (permalink)
Keely Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 31	Actually yes I do live near Wichita, I am in Salina that is a hour and a half north of Wichita... I was born and raised in Wichita I am getting ready to start a small project, a pocket knife for my father in law and it would be perfect to show anyone! The best bead supplier lives in Wichita too. He sells beads and such from his home. You can e-mail me at kdenning@cox.net

03-02-2003, 10:43 AM	#10 (permalink)
NancyJo Cloth Dancer Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Texas Posts: 358	I'm trying not to sound redundant here...... but that is one BEAUTIFUL cane!!!!!!! Fantastic beadwork.......you are doing a great job! Hang in there with it and post a picture when you get it done. The red and orange look good.

03-02-2003, 04:03 PM	#11 (permalink)
Keely Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 31	Thank you for your kind compliments, the pattern is my own. I very rarely work from a pattern, I make mine up as I go along. I get a idea in my head of what I want, and then work it out as I go along.

03-02-2003, 04:11 PM	#12 (permalink)
Keely Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 31	Thank you for your kind compliment. I read your profile, I too work for our local Sheriff's Department... I do research and a cold case Jane Doe homicide.

03-02-2003, 04:16 PM	#13 (permalink)
Keely Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 31	Thank you for your kind compliment :o) I need to go to Wichita and get more beads before I can finish it. I hope to be working on it again very soon, as my husband is nursing a broken hand right now and so I find a little more time on my hands, that is when I am not taking care of him LOL

03-03-2003, 02:28 PM	#14 (permalink)
randyinkc Junior Dancer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: KC, Missouri Posts: 143	Keely- Thats some good work! I'm impressed.... I understand the feeling of tackling a monumental project like that. I'm nearing the end of my vest and it is just about to drive me crazy....However, the good news is that I anticipate the beading to be done in about 2 weeks. All that I will have left is to sew in the lining and do the edge trim. The one issue you will have with beading the handle of the cane wont necessarily be from getting to the stitch on the inside curve but will be from how the beads will lay in the project in general. The top side of the handle has a greater circumference than the bottome side of the curve of the handle. You will find as you nead over the top that your row will begin to "shift" on you so that your row wont stay perpindicular to the shaft of the cane. I found this out when I sat down once to bead the outside rim of a dreamcatcher. I dont know if this will make sense to you as I have had a hard time explaining this problem. I'll see if I can take a picture of the dreamcatcher and hope that the picture will explain it a little better. The solution I found was add partial rows on the outer edge to try and compensate for the row shift. I have yet to finish that project so I'm not sure that my fix is goodl, but I know it was causing me all kinds of problems. Not to mention that its very hard to maintain your pattern when you try to bead a curve like that. Thats just been my experience with beading something curved like that. If you know a secret to make it come out, please share! __________________ Randy

03-03-2003, 03:21 PM	#15 (permalink)
Keely Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 31	Randy, I have that curve figured out... thats where odd size beads will be used, the wider ones to the outside and skinnier ones to the inside of the handle. Odd size beads is one of the reasons I like brick so well... when your rows get off a little, you dont have to rip out, just make the difference up with odd beads over several rows and it all blends in :o)

03-03-2003, 04:25 PM	#16 (permalink)
randyinkc Junior Dancer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: KC, Missouri Posts: 143	Good enough! Just wanted to warn you, I hadnt thought of that detail when I attempted to do something on a curve like that and it was a pain. If careful selection of your bead size doesnt give you enough space you can always add in an extra partial row..... __________________ Randy

03-03-2003, 04:32 PM	#17 (permalink)
Keely Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 31	Oh yeah, I have thought about the parital row! But we do get those really skinny beads... gotta use them somewhere! :) I know a woman who throws out all her odd size beads, such a waste!

03-03-2003, 06:31 PM	#18 (permalink)
Blackbear Space Cowboy Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Alaska Posts: 9,618	Randy are you using gourd stitch or the two drop peyote? I found that beading a ring like for a dreamcatcher works just fine if I use a 2 drop peyote...but is easier the larger the ring. __________________ Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear... just sing, sing a song.

03-03-2003, 07:12 PM	#19 (permalink)
Tsiniti Dancin n Vendin Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: TN Posts: 295	There are times I have to use a cane, I have three or four .... none of them plain, but none as gorgeous as yours either! The one I get the most laughs out of is NEON PINK, it used to be a crook over 6 ft long, and they thought it would be a joke to cut it off and give it to me for a cane, NOPE my favorite color... plus I don't have to worry about ruining it. I can't bead ..... nor can I imagine having the patience to do what you have done .... as I said, simply gorgeous!! __________________ Your Heart Shows by how Your Words and Actions Affect Others. Nah I ain't NO WANNABE! I don't gotta wannabe when people wannabe like me!

03-03-2003, 07:19 PM	#20 (permalink)
Keely Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 31