Beading needles and new projects...

It has rained all day, so it was a good day to write a log entry and work on my latest project!  I found this pattern on a blog called Beads Magic. This is a necklace called "Teresa".
The original necklace is done in black white and gold seed beads. I decided to try it with Spring colors and this is what I came up with!

 The pattern on the blog was just drawn out diagrams with no real instructions or list of supplies, but it was not too hard to follow. I made my own drawing for the blog pictures!

And  I designed a pair of earrings to go with the necklace!

I am enjoying working on this necklace! It looks floral and great for Spring!

In the past couple of days, I have been working along and all of a sudden my needle breaks! Annoying! Well, I decided to say a little about beading needles here for new beaders who might experience this!

I use a size 12 beading needle. I find that most of what I do requires many passes of thread through the beads, and a larger needle just would not work. 
I use two brands of needles. Each brand has it's issues and I will share this with you.

The first brand I use is John James.

 These needles are English nickle-plated steel needle. They are very good quality and have a larger eye that is easier to thread. They are the more expensive of the needles that I buy.
 The issue with these is that they seem to break easily!
If you put too much pressure on them or bend them too much, they just snap! I use these with projects that I know I won't have to do a lot of manipulation of the needle.

 The second brand of needles I use is Lance.

 These needles come from India and are also nickle-plated steel. They are much thinner than the John James and that must be why they are much cheaper! 
The issue with these needles is that they bend out of shape very easily. This keeps them from breaking as easily as the John James. You can straighten they  by holding near the eye with flat nose pliers and then pull the needle between your thumb and finger.  They usually don't stay straight for very long, but you can still work with them curved!

I switch between the two needles depending on the project and they seem to work well for me!

I am going to go back to working on my necklace and blog again later!