My First Two Strings of Pearls

by Lyle Hylen

Hi Kari,
You are correct. If it is a skill, it takes practice. My first string of pearls was really spacey. By the time I got to the sixtieth of sixty -nine pearls they began to look almost tight and evenly spaced. That was when I began to understand your wisdom of sending me three silk threads and the comment about practice. One mistake and the sting is ruined. The knot cannot be untied -- I tried.
I have had hobbies and been a "do-it-myself " guy my whole life. I love the saying that goes "An amateur practices until he can do it right, A professional practices until he cannot do it wrong." I am now somewhere in between those to extremes.
I was able to develop a technique that worked well for me. The second string of pearls (same pearls of course) was passable except for the two not-knotted spots. My trick is to pull the two threads apart to take the knot back to the pearl with out pulling it tight. Then I slide down the next pearl into place and pull it hard against the knot to set the knot. This worked great except for the two times that I pulled a second pearl down and pulled two pearls together without a knot.
Because I missed those two knot, I will be making my third string pearls next week -- after I have had a long rest.
Thank you for all the help and instruction. I now have a new skill which I will probably completely forget by the time I want to use it again.
Sincerely
Lyle Hylen