Strawberry pony bead pattern

About this design

The strawberry starts with a single Dark green bead at the top, opening into a leafy cap of Green and Dark green. Below it the berry is Red with seven Yellow seeds scattered across it, inside a Black outline that tapers to a point. It is a cheerful bag charm and a good second project after the heart.

Bead counts: 50 Opaque red, 19 Opaque black, 7 Opaque yellow, 6 Opaque green and 5 Opaque dark green, 87 pony beads in all.

Lacing it

Thread each row onto one cord end, then take the other end through the same beads the opposite way so the cords cross inside the row. Lace the leaves first; the top row is a single bead, so slide it to the middle of the cord before you start. Pull both ends after every row so the piece stays straight. The pattern has 13 rows, and you need about 178 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 6.6 cm wide and 11.7 cm long with standard pony beads, a good size for a bag charm, a zip pull or a keychain.

Colour plan

Opaque red does the most work, 57% of the 87 beads, followed by Opaque black at 22%. Opaque yellow (7), Opaque green (6) and Opaque dark green (5) are used only a little: small details worth marking on the chart so you don't miss them. 39% of the grid is left empty.

Working notes

It is laced in 13 rows from the top, and needs about 178 cm of cord. Every row is one unbroken run of beads, centred under the row above, so it laces exactly as charted.