How to put a bead ...........

This has probably been done before but it's something I thought might be worth 'blogging'. Hopefully I'll also get round to putting it on a web page too one day soon - along with the rest of the patchwork instructions!!!
I was making some more of these earrings yesterday and realised that if anybody was to look carefully at them they might wonder how I got the large bead between the very long picot and the inner chain. This is how I did it!!!
When I make a very long picot I put the beads onto the thread at the back of my hand and hold them in place with a safety pin - like this. I find this method gives me a long picot which is easier to make and fits the required amount of beads each time.
Anyway, with this earwig I decided I'd like a larger bead in between the part I was working on (chain) and this long picot. When I got to the middle part of the chain under the vlp I put a large bead onto the chain thread.
Figure 1 shows where I'm going to place the bead.

In figure 2 I've added a large bead to the thread again and this time I post the very long picot through the loop above that bead. See fig. 3.
Just get the thread lying between the centre beads of the vlp (see the arrow in fig. 4) and tighten and continue.

I've gone off the rails!!

I've had some earrings admired several times lately by friends and have promised to make some for them. I've made these two pairs. One for a friend and t'other - well, either for me or to sell and because the first pair turned out so well!!
The thread I've used is Oren Bayan metallic which I bought from Lyn Morton at Tatting and Design.
The pattern is adapted from the snowflake on my site - I have the notes on this if you want them. Please just drop me a line and I'll send you the file. I'm going to make another two pairs with other sparkly threads and then I promise I'll get back to the new idea and the patchwork!!
The new idea is smouldering in the brain as I walk in the afternoons. I usually find that walking gives me the time to plan and plot things!!!

More squares!!

I didn't do a lot on this yesterday as 'another idea' hit me with a vengeance. Actually it started off reasonably well and then finished up like a damp squid after five 'starts'!!! I will get back to it later today, I hope!!!
As relaxation I went back to the patchwork and this is the progress I made!!

Triangles over and done with!!

Well that's the triangles done with!!!
I could've gone further yesterday but I went to blood donor (number 69) in the afternoon and just before going out I grabbed a hanky edging which I normally take with me (at the moment it's my 'on the go' project!).
I didn't have time to do very much as they now run an appointment system which means that you don't sit around and wait for hours. Great! Anyway, when I got home I realised that I was coming up to a corner and would soon need new thread added. As I have to be waiting around a hospital waiting room next week I decided to get 'round the bend' (no comments about me already being there, please!) and add new thread. So, by the time I got back to the patchwork it was well into the evening!!!
Here are the triangles done.

The triangle

I spent nearly the whole afternoon on the wretched triangle design and finally finished up with the attached yellow triangle. I wasn't particularly happy with it but it does lie well and that's all one can ask!!! I thought it wasn't going to but - finally when I showed it the iron it settled in well without any 'stretching' or 'bulging'!!!! Good job done!!!! (Family joke!).
I was going to do the triangles in blue as you can see by the other 'trials' on this round (there are another six aborted triangles lying around tat corner!) but in the end settled for a yellow triangle and a blue square. I'm also showing the final layout here (not with the same colours, obviously and it's a bit of a hurried drawing too). I hope to do this while I'm not playing with other stuff!!!!
I've had an idea for another design but we'll see!!!

Designing the triangle

Yesterday saw progress on the triangle. Well, as much as could be expected after finishing the last round in the early evening when the brain was already tired!!! This is the latest round finished.

Now the triangle!!!
This element is proving to be a tad harder! It sounds simple enough - after all an equilateral triangle is half a square, isn't it? So, all I had to do was 'cut it in half'. A square, I mean.
Ah, no, not that easy! As you can see I assumed I was being very 'clever' and thought I could keep half the square but work from a different start point - finishing the third side with SR's. I just couldn't get this to work - however hard I tried. Here are three of the attempts that didn't get thrown away.

Finally I decided to go with the original 'format' of rings, chains and SCMR's (see the first one in the above group). The final attempt of the evening was to make one in the chosen next colour and add it to the piece I'm working on. I've left it for now but I'm not happy with it. I need to sort out the SCMR and play with the stitch count. It actually fits well with the previous round and I've 'tested' it with a 'reject' square and diamond and it fits well.
OK, another close look and I HATE it!!!! I've got to re-design from scratch.

I suppose I really ought to do an 'un-equilateral' triangle too!!!! Yes, I now know it's called an isosceles triangle!!! Just being silly now!!!

Further progress!

A few more 'patches' done and it's going to get exciting now as I'm forced by myself to do the triangle!!!!
I should get to it today. I shall add the triangle to the top of the square and then, I think, I can add more diamonds. Any other suggestions or layouts would be gratefully received if people want to send them to love to tat @ gmail.com.
You know me - always open to offers of help and advice!!!