It is no secret that I love to be able to play with new types of bead and put them through their paces. I am probably at my happiest when I can sit down with an unfamiliar bead, some cord and my Prumihimo disk, so imagine how delighted I was to be given some bags of ZoliDuos by my dear friend, Jamie North. Like most new beads, the ZoliDuo has been developed for bead weavers, but virtually any bead can be used effectively in kumihimo and that is certainly true of this bead. The bead is shaped like a curved teardrop or a paisley shape and it comes in two different forms, left and right, which refers to the direction of the curve on the bead. There are two holes running across the width of the bead and they come in a great range of colours and surface effects.
My Prumihimo disk is the perfect tool for working with something like this because it produces a straight braid, without the spiral construction of the regular round disk, which allows precise positioning of any size or shape of bead. I decided to use the beads in pairs, nestled together and well spaced around the bracelet. I used seed beads to line the edges of the braid to give the shape greater definition and I used simialr colours for the seed beads to keep the effect fairly subtle. Once I had made one I realised that it would look even prettier sitting next to a non-identical twin, so that the pairs of beads are offset. I have now written up the tutorial, which includes two versions and also includes instructions for attaching a safety chain. The tutorial is now in my shop, so if you are interested in having a go please click below.
