Cosmic Dodecahedron

Have you ever had an idea for a project, a project that you knew would be quite cool, but never seemed to find the time to sit down and build it? I've been thinking about weaving this beaded object for close to a year, but I knew it would take many hours of painstaking, fiddly beadwork, so I kept putting it off for another time. This past weekend, I finally sat down and put it together.

A Dodecahedral Variation

The result is a dodecahedral variation of my Cosmic Nocturne Pendant, and it is indeed as cool as I thought it would be! It's hollow and completely self-supporting, and surprisingly heavy for its size and lacy nature. It was also as fiddly as I thought it would be, as I had to perform several feats of Beading Needle Gymnastics to get the beads to go where they needed to go.

A Very Large Beaded Bead

This is easily the largest beaded bead that I've ever created. So much so that I'm learning towards using it as a Christmas ornament. Here it is next to the beaded bead that was previously my largest design, the Fiberoptic Dodecahedron:

And here it is next to a quarter:

It measures about 45 mm in diameter, which makes it slightly larger than a golf ball. I don't have a golf ball for comparison, but I do have a baseball. It's a little larger than half the diameter of a baseball, and with enough practice, you can get it to balance on top of a baseball:

And of course, my tiny paper cranes had to get in on the act too :)

Three Cosmic Symmetries

Together with the original Cosmic Nocturne Pendant and the Tetrahedral Variation, the Cosmic Dodecahedron variation completes the trio of these lacy beaded beads.

I'll be describing these variations in my Cosmic Nocturne Pendant class at the Bead & Button Show next month if you'd like to learn how to make your own!

The Cosmic Nocturne Pendant is just one of the projects that I'll be teaching at the Bead & Button Show this June. The class for this particular project is on Friday, June 7, from 1-4 PM. More information about the show can be found on their website.