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Bead Crochet Snakes

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Bead Crochet Snakes: History and Technique is a gold mine for beaders, scholars, and antique collectors.  It is the only book to offer an extended, illustrated history of bead crochet snakes as well as five patterns for beaders who want to make their own snakes.
 
Bead Crochet Snakes illustrates how these beautiful, shiny serpents fit into the rich tradition of bead crochet as practised in Turkey and other parts of the Ottoman Empire.  The book also explains how the snakes were constructed, the fascinating story of snakes made by Turkish prisoners of war during World War I, and the subsequent craze for bead crochet snake jewelry.
 
Beaders can gain inspiration from the many photos of bead crochet items as well as make their own snakes to exhibit or wear .  Patterns are provided for a snake necklace, a rattlesnake necklace,two matching bracelets, and a memory wire snake bracelet.  The projects will also teach beaders an alternate stringing method, the bead single crochet stitch, increasing and decreasing, crocheting on two sides of a foundation chain, and two methods of fastening on a new thread.
 
TO ORDER: Click on the To Order tab above to purchase the book.
 
 
 

TWO OTHER PROJECTS

Green Snake Bracelets

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bead croceht belts
Balkan bead crochet belts

BEAD CROCHET SNAKE HISTORY
 
The story of bead crochet snakes is a rich one that involves a geographical area formerly referred to as the Balkans and known today as Southestern Europe.  Bead crochet items were mostly produced in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, and eastern Turkey.
 
The majority of beadwork reptiles made in the region can be divided into three types: snakes and lizards made by Turkish soldiers imprisoned in British military and civilian internment camps during World War I, snakes made by villagers in parts of Southeastern Europe for their own use, and less elaborate snakes made to be sold at markets as souvenirs or made specifically as jewelry.
 
While the snake made by imprisoned soldiers and civilians during World War I are the most well-known items of bead crochet, the story of their making actually encompasses bead crochet in the Ottoman Empire, the use of crafts to keep busy or make money in prison, and the use of snakes in real life and art as protection against misfortune.   
    

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Turkish prisoner-of-war snake, 1919.

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Snake made by a civilian sometime between the two World Wars.