AKOYA.

One of my favorite things about tangling is how one thing often turns into something else, which turns into something kind of unexpected and wonderful. Thought I'd share this serendipitous moment with you, since you're here and all. ;o) I won't blather on... here y'go.

An earlier version (why yes, I did name the file 'holidala'), with ribbon running throughout. The brilliant minds over at the tanglebucket studio facebook page (unanimously) voted for color. Soo glad I listened.

Here's Akoya proper drawn as a simple border, no fluff.

a fancypants little star for the holidays...

I just love this pattern as a border.

 ...the how-to:

If you're not a perfectionist, please disregard the following...

Some helpful hints- 'cause you know I'm way too chatty to just drop and run:

Step 1: Space evenly and draw slowly so your pearls don't end up with tails. When in doubt, go with a smaller pen size or draw a little bigger than usual until you get a feel for the way the elements of this pattern fit together. 

Step 2: This line should start close to the top middle of the first pearl and extend close to the bottom middle of the next pearl. If these shapes aren't slanted enough, there won't be enough room to vary the sizes of the outer lines of pearls in Step 3 and 4. Try to draw each line as an extension of the curve it's coming off of, so you're less likely to have a big 'dent' in between pearls and lines (which is awkward to fill in).

Step 4: To get a good smooth curve, keep in mind that the biggest pearl in the middle is the halfway point of each section, not the end.

Step 5: Make these shapes as big and as round as possible. Draw on the lines that are already there so your circles are nice and big in there. Ideally, you want as few spaces as possible to fill in with black in your last step. The less black fill you have in the middle, the better your final result will look. 

Step 6: Think of this step as spackle, to smooth out those pesky little valleys.

Given my track record this past year, you're unlikely to see another blog post from me before January... soooo, Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanzaa/Happy new year! 

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crack silly jokes, 

and offer up the 

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