Rainbow stripe pony bead pattern

About this design

This is the practice piece: 18 rows of seven beads, three rows each of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple. Every row is the same width, so you can concentrate on the lacing itself, crossing the cord ends through each row and pulling them evenly, before you move on to shaped designs.

Bead counts: 21 Opaque red, 21 Opaque orange, 21 Opaque yellow, 21 Opaque green, 21 Opaque blue and 21 Opaque purple, 126 pony beads in all.

Lacing it

Pull both ends by the same amount after every row; with straight edges, any unevenness shows at once. Work down the row list one row at a time: string the beads on one end of the cord, pass the other end back through them from the other side, and pull the row snug against the one above. The pattern has 18 rows, and you need about 234 cm of cord: that allows for both ends passing through every row, a loop at the top and enough to tie off.

Finishing

After the last row, tie the two ends in a tight double knot under the final bead, add a drop of glue if the cord is slippery, and trim the tails. The finished piece is about 4.2 cm wide and 16.2 cm long with standard pony beads, a good size for a keychain or a first lacing project.

Colour plan

Opaque red does the most work, 17% of the 126 beads, followed by Opaque orange at 17%. Every colour is used at least 21 times, so there are no tiny one-off details to hunt for. Every square of the grid is filled.

Working notes

It is laced in 18 rows from the top, and needs about 234 cm of cord. Every row is one unbroken run of beads, centred under the row above, so it laces exactly as charted.