Question about Miyuki

In older catalogs they used to state that their dyna-mites were made in
China or Taiwan. I don't use them so I've never paid attention to the
change. Thanks for pointing it out.

--
--
Barbara
www.penguintrax.com

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I strung a whole tube of Miyuki Size 8 seed beads the other day and culled
10 beads, which I thought was pretty good.

Elise

"Kathy N-V" wrote in message
. giganews.com...
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 21:14:38 -0500, Beadbimbo wrote
(in message ):

I know what Delicas are, but I don't know anything about any other Myuki
beads. Are all Myukis really consistant in size, like the delicas are?


warning: long Kathy N-V-ish answer ahead, involving her scientific
observations and comparisons and general geekiness. Proceed at your
own peril.


Other Miyuki products are not as consistent as Delicas. (And Delicas
tend to be less consistent than Toho Treasures, but Toho Treasures
have a far smaller color selection) They are worlds more consistent
than Czech, Indian or Taiwanese seed beads, but they still do need
some culling. I've found that the cube beads from Miyuki have the
roughest edges and need the most attention, with solid colors
requiring more culling than the color lined, for some reason. The
Miyuki triangle beads are the smoothest (almost a "round" triangle,
if you know what I mean), and I rarely throw one away.

If you want incredible consistency, take a look at Toho Aiko beads.
They're even smaller than Delicas, and are astonishingly consistent.
I was sent a small sample, and worked it up to see how the finished
product looked. A tiny sample of Aiko beads looks a lot like
micro-mosaics. Very, very pretty, but rather tough on the eyes of
the beadworker. If you like working with 15/0 beads, you'll love
these.

The three well known Japanese beadmakers have seed bead products that
are very consistent compared to beads from other countries, and I'm
sure that long time bead artists would think we're spoiled compared
to the (pardon me) junk that was the norm even a decade ago. But
seed beads still require some culling - how much really depends on
the stitch you're using. A forgiving stitch (like Ndebele) or bead
embroidery can use beads that would look horrid in loomwork or
charted peyote stitch.

Personally, I find that Toho beads are my favorite, but Miyukis are
easier to find. If I'm not mistaken, Matsuno beads are the ones that
FMG sells as Dyna-mites. All three are subtly different from each
another, although they can usually be used together in the same
project - unlike mixing say Czech and Japanese beads in a loomwork
project. (eww) Czech seed beads require more culling than Japanese
ones, but they have their own really nice qualities as well. The
shape is completely different (think donut compared to pipe), and the
color selection is a lot nicer (especially in the pinks and purples,
which the Japanese have never really gotten down perfectly, IMNSHO)

I even have a place (a very small and limited place) for cheap seed
beads from Taiwan or India. If I can find a truly unusual color and
enough to do an entire project (color matching over time is something
that hasn't happened there yet), I'll buy the beads. They make a
very "organic," somewhat roughly finished final product. I've yet to
find find a bead that simulates the texture of tree bark than a
Taiwanese seed, and I love them for the cores of certain types of
spirals.

If a specific batch of beads I buy has an unusual amount of culls
(say anything over ~5% for Japanese seed beads, or ~10% for cubes), I
mention it to the person who sold them to me. They've always come
through and given me some replacements, and I assume that they've
complained further up the food chain to their supplier. Since I buy
my beads by the half kilo or more, and usually a bunch of colors at a
time, I assume that the vendor I used got a bad batch from the
manufacturer. A given 5 gram tube of beads could be a bad roll of
the beady dice, but a whole kilo? No way.

BTW, if you like seed beading, I highly recommend buying a few colors
in the large half-kilo or quarter-kilo packages (100g for cylinder
beads). I go through black and white like crazy, and always buy
large packages of those, in many different sizes and finishes. When
you consider the cost between a tube and a bulk package, you'll be
shocked at how much less your cost per gram will be by just buying
those colors in bulk.

The finish treatment effects the consistency of the beads as well. I
seldom use galvanized beads, but when I do, I've noticed that they
often have beads sticking together - I assume it's from the way that
the paint dries on the beads. Matte beads tend to be smaller than
shiny beads of the same type, because the etching process removes
some glass. With coated beads, it's the opposite effect. But these
are subtle, fussy inconsistencies - nothing that a non-beader would
ever notice.

So the answer to your question is that Miyuki and other Japanese
beads are the most consistent seed beads you will find in today's
marketplace. However, we still have not reached the stage where
culling is unnecessary. I am okay with this, because the labor
required for such a process would make the cost of the beads
prohibitively high, and because there are times where a slight range
of sizes adds interest to my work.

Kathy N-V

P.S.: Someday I'll give a concise answer and will fall over dead
from the shock. I feel a huge emotional need to cover all the
information I've found, even when asked a simple question. Mea
culpa.

Barbara Forbes-Lyons wrote:
In older catalogs they used to state that their dyna-mites were made in
China or Taiwan. I don't use them so I've never paid attention to the
change. Thanks for pointing it out.

You're welcome.

When I started doing beadweaving (When? Over two years ago?) I bought
*ahem* craft store beads. They were not very satisfactory, but what did
I know?

Upon surfing the web, I came up with Mill Hill beads, which are probably
Czech and intended for embroidery not weaving, and Cousins, which are
also Czech, but worse, IMO, than craft store beads. Regardless, I was
not very happy with the color selection at either place and kept looking.

I found adverts for FMG and Shipwreck in B&B. I couldn't get into the
Shipwreck site (some sort of server malfunction or poopy software), so I
browsed FMG, and was impressed with the color selection of Dynamites. I
bought some and was happy.

Since I started coming here, I found Out on a Whim. I was (and am)
thrilled to pieces with the color selection. Unfortunately, the tubes
of beads don't come with pedigrees; some tubes of certain colors appear
to be Czech, but I have no way of knowing. Not that it matters at this
stage; I just work them in through careful selection.

Seems to be the stages that I go through with materials. First, I start
out using sow's ears to make sow's ears. Then, I move up to using real
silk for silk purses, but finally I'm able to turn them ol' sow's ears
into silk purses anyway. :-)

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

Don't give up, it's absolutely worth getting past the hurdles to learn
it. I did all brick stitch the first year I did beadweaving and I'm
always reluctant to learn something new when I can just do something I
know. I was very glad I went to the trouble though, when I did learn
it. It's so much nicer feeling and more versatile than brick. I had
trouble with the tension the first few projects but I got the hang of
it and it was smooth sailing ever after.

Ingrid
http://www.mermaidscove.com

"Even though I've sworn to NEVER to peyote again after my one
experience! "

First, I start
out using sow's ears to make sow's ears. Then, I move up to using real
silk for silk purses, but finally I'm able to turn them ol' sow's ears
into silk purses anyway. :-)

Arondelle
---------------------------------------------------------------

She's right! Check out her work:

http://www.red-death.com/~beadles/index.html

Hey Arondelle,

I was looking through your site, which looks great, BTW! When you
did that tubular peyote bracelet, did you leave the 2mm cord in there, or do
you take it out when you're finished? I haven't learned tubular peyote, so
I don't have a clue.

--
Jerri
www.beadbimbo.com
To subscribe to my mailing list, send an e-mail to: with
"Subscribe" in the subject line.
"Arondelle" wrote in message
news:%cJXd.75258$uc.56013@trnddc08...
Barbara Forbes-Lyons wrote:
In older catalogs they used to state that their dyna-mites were made in
China or Taiwan. I don't use them so I've never paid attention to the
change. Thanks for pointing it out.

You're welcome.

When I started doing beadweaving (When? Over two years ago?) I bought
*ahem* craft store beads. They were not very satisfactory, but what did I
know?

Upon surfing the web, I came up with Mill Hill beads, which are probably
Czech and intended for embroidery not weaving, and Cousins, which are also
Czech, but worse, IMO, than craft store beads. Regardless, I was not very
happy with the color selection at either place and kept looking.

I found adverts for FMG and Shipwreck in B&B. I couldn't get into the
Shipwreck site (some sort of server malfunction or poopy software), so I
browsed FMG, and was impressed with the color selection of Dynamites. I
bought some and was happy.

Since I started coming here, I found Out on a Whim. I was (and am)
thrilled to pieces with the color selection. Unfortunately, the tubes of
beads don't come with pedigrees; some tubes of certain colors appear to be
Czech, but I have no way of knowing. Not that it matters at this stage; I
just work them in through careful selection.

Seems to be the stages that I go through with materials. First, I start
out using sow's ears to make sow's ears. Then, I move up to using real
silk for silk purses, but finally I'm able to turn them ol' sow's ears
into silk purses anyway. :-)

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

Beadbimbo wrote:
I was looking through your site, which looks great, BTW! When you
did that tubular peyote bracelet, did you leave the 2mm cord in there, or do
you take it out when you're finished? I haven't learned tubular peyote, so
I don't have a clue.

I left it inside: I put cord ends on the elastic, and beaded over them.
Then, I attached the clasp to the cord ends. :-)

These days, though, I just dispense with the clasps and the cord
altogether and weave the ends of the tube together, forming a bangle
style bracelet. However, you can't weave the peyote too tightly or it
won't have enough flex to bend around smoothly.

When you're up to it, you can work your tube over a short (about 6"
long) piece of 1/4" dowel, mostly to give yourself something to hang
onto while working.

Starting a tube for a bracelet is the second most fiddley thing I can
think of to do in peyote. I have to start and rip out about 5 times to
get it right, no matter how many times I've done it before. (The first
most fiddley thing is beading over a bead, like the ones on the
Raspberries necklace or the pinecones.) =:-o

Get really comfortable with the flat peyote before attempting tubes.
Otherwise, you'll get too frustrated and swear never to do it again.

Yeah, right...

Arondelle -- living proof of Dave Barry's comment about hobbies and
mental illness.
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

Thanks! I'd like to try it. I had wondered about using something like a
dowel. I'm glad you mentionednot to weave too tightly! I never would have
thought about that!

I've already sworn never to follow a peyote pattern again. Lol. We'll see
if I stick to that!

--
Jerri
www.beadbimbo.com
To subscribe to my mailing list, send an e-mail to: with
"Subscribe" in the subject line.


"Arondelle" wrote in message
news:1MMXd.75288$uc.62164@trnddc08...
Beadbimbo wrote:
I was looking through your site, which looks great, BTW! When
you did that tubular peyote bracelet, did you leave the 2mm cord in
there, or do you take it out when you're finished? I haven't learned
tubular peyote, so I don't have a clue.

I left it inside: I put cord ends on the elastic, and beaded over them.
Then, I attached the clasp to the cord ends. :-)

These days, though, I just dispense with the clasps and the cord
altogether and weave the ends of the tube together, forming a bangle style
bracelet. However, you can't weave the peyote too tightly or it won't
have enough flex to bend around smoothly.

When you're up to it, you can work your tube over a short (about 6" long)
piece of 1/4" dowel, mostly to give yourself something to hang onto while
working.

Starting a tube for a bracelet is the second most fiddley thing I can
think of to do in peyote. I have to start and rip out about 5 times to
get it right, no matter how many times I've done it before. (The first
most fiddley thing is beading over a bead, like the ones on the
Raspberries necklace or the pinecones.) =:-o

Get really comfortable with the flat peyote before attempting tubes.
Otherwise, you'll get too frustrated and swear never to do it again.

Yeah, right...

Arondelle -- living proof of Dave Barry's comment about hobbies and mental
illness.
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

Kathy N-V wrote:

warning: long Kathy N-V-ish answer ahead, involving her scientific
observations and comparisons and general geekiness. Proceed at your
own peril.


Other Miyuki products are not as consistent as Delicas. (And Delicas

[snip detailed information]

Great information, Kathy!

I was wondering, have you ever posted pictures of your beadwork? Or
would you consider doing so?

Carol in NM
--
Born to live a life of leisure, still waiting for it to happen.

To reply, unleash the dog

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 1:41:31 -0500, FurPaw wrote
(in message ):

Kathy N-V wrote:

warning: long Kathy N-V-ish answer ahead, involving her scientific
observations and comparisons and general geekiness. Proceed at your
own peril.


Other Miyuki products are not as consistent as Delicas. (And Delicas

[snip detailed information]

Great information, Kathy!

I was wondering, have you ever posted pictures of your beadwork? Or
would you consider doing so?

Carol in NM

I have posted pictures in the past, and they reside at
www.picturetrail.com/kathynv

However, the quality of such photos is terrible, and does little
justice to the pieces. I'm busy reading online tutorials to help me
learn better photography for the Web. Once I do so, I plan to set up
a little photo rig, and then - watch out!

I have several hundred pieces kicking around here that I could
photograph, but haven't. Sooner or later - so I have some record of
actually making things and won't inadvertently duplicate any items.

Kathy N-V