Always check every row you've just finished. Unfortunately, I forget to follow my own advice and usually notice a mistake in my beading pattern after I've finished several rows. I can't tell you how many times I've torn out rows of beads to correct a silly mistake. It's so easy to day dream when I bead - like being on auto-pilot, simply picking up a bead, then another bead, and finding too late that the colors are out of sequence and the design has gone awry. I never have this problem when I create a pattern using my own design because I'm so focused on which bead goes where and how those beads will impact the design. Writing the step-by-step directions as I go along and the process of taking photos of each step also helps keep me alert. I truly prefer designing my own patterns. However, I haven't really done much geometric beading and I'm the first to admit that it is far easier to learn a new technique by using a pre-existing pattern from a designer who really knows his/her way around beading geometrically. I'm presently working on a bangle using a Jean Power's "Caldera" design (the pattern is included in the book "Contemporary Geometric Beadwork", available at http://katemckinnon.bigcartel.com/product/pre-order-for and for non-USA orders, it's available at http://www.jeanpower.com/books/geometrics/). I probably could have finished this project days ago had my mind been on my work rather than drifting in and out in a zen-like trance. When I'm working with metal or polymer clay or resin, I'm very focused on the process and what the next step entails. But beading is another story - it is almost too relaxing!
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