Bead Crochet by Bethany Barry
Posted by Leah on Nov 28, 2006
Bead Crochet: A Beadwork How-To Book (Beadwork How-To series)
I bought this book a year or two ago, based on the picture on the cover, which I think is really beautiful. I personally like freeform designs, and the necklace pictured incorporates lots of color in what looks like a semi-random mix, but done with a great eye for color and design.
The book starts with a section on the history of crochet and lots of how-to information on crochet stitches as well as beadwork techniques. For someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with either beads or crochet, this section would probably be pretty useful - since I do have experience with the techniques, I mostly glossed over it.
Then there is an illustrated project section. The projects include jewelry as well as purses using several different bead crochet techniques. I liked some of them, others not as much - but of course, that’s just a personal preference. I’m more drawn to the freeform-style projects, and there was a mix of these and some much more structured designs.
Finally, there is a small gallery of bead crochet, by Bethany Barry as well as other artists, some of whom were familiar names to me from back when I did more beadwork. I would have liked a bigger gallery section, because that’s always my favorite part of a jewelry book, but otherwise I have no complaints about this section of the book.
Overall, I like this book. I refer to it now and then for inspiration (the pictures are good), but I find myself wishing it was longer - I’d like to see more projects, especially for someone a little more advanced, and an expanded gallery section. On the other hand, it was pretty inexpensive for a jewelry book, and I think it is a good introduction to bead crochet and some of the possibilities for using it as a design technique.
