Faerie Bells

Clapperless bells are sometimes known as faerie bells. These are made in India, and they give this piece a gentle fey quality as they softly jingle against each other. Combining them with crocheted strands of lavender amethyst on wire makes for a necklace with a lot of natural movement.

I suggest crocheting a small sample with your colored wire and stone chips before proceeding with the full piece if the finished length is important to you. I found that 12 inches of wire reduced to approximately 3 inches when crocheted, but your results may vary greatly due to the hook size you are comfortable with, the tension you use, and the chip size. Adjust my instructions to yield the length you desire. I used 18 inches of chips and ended up with a crocheted piece 80 inches long.

Materials and tools:
Spool of 28 gauge colored wire, purple or other dark color
18 inches of lavender amethyst chips
8 lavender amethyst rounds, 6mm
65 lavender amethyst rounds, 4mm
4 sterling silver oval beads, 13 x 8mm
40 silver-toned clapperless bells
20 inches SoftFlex beading wire, .019” diameter
2 silver crimps

Large crochet hook
Chain nose pliers
Wire cutters
Measuring tape

1. Thread all your chips onto the colored wire. Starting 4 inches from the end of the wire, begin to crochet a simple chain, adding a chip to every other chain. Leave a 4 inch tail on the other end too.

2. Fold your chain into strands of approximately equal length and use the loose wire end to anchor them together. I folded mine into six lengths, so I had to cut another short piece of wire to wrap the second side together.

3. Cut a 20 inch piece of beading wire and attach it with a crimp close to one of the wrapping wires.

4. Thread on 5 bells and an oval bead, sliding them over the colored wires as well as the beading wire. Clip the ends even with the top of the oval bead. The bells will hang down a bit and cover the crimp.

5. String the rest of the beading wire as follows: 5 bells, 3 - 6mm amethyst rounds, 5 bells, a silver oval bead, 5 bells, 1 - 6mm amethyst round. Add approximately 65 - 4mm amethyst rounds. Then reverse the pattern of bells, ovals, and 6mm beads listed above.

6. Anchor the free end of the beading wire close to the free ends of colored wire, using the second crimp. Clip all the free ends off at the top of the closest oval bead.

Copyright 2011 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.