writing a strand formula card

A strand formula card is a single written record for one piece: the bead, the count, the finished length, the order of the sections, and the limits you accept. It belongs on one card or one page, dated, so the next strand can be repeated or deliberately changed. Write the measurements in order because the order is the formula: change the sequence and you change the strand.

What belongs on a strand formula card?

Six fields, no more. If a field does not change the outcome, it does not go on the card.

1. Piece name and date. "Teal ladder, 45 cm, 12 March." The date matters more than the name, because your bead stock and your eyes change.
2. Bead identity. Size, shape, finish, and the supplier lot if you have it. Two tubes of 8/0 in the same colour number can differ by a fraction of a millimetre between lots, and that fraction decides whether the strand lies flat.
3. Count per section. Not the total count. The count in each repeat.
4. Section order. Written left to right, in the order you actually string them.
5. Finished length and thread take-up. The length you measured on the strand, plus the allowance you gave for the thread path.
6. Limits. The shortest and longest version of this formula that still works, and the bead substitutions you have already ruled out.

The limits field is the one people skip and the one that saves the most time. A formula without limits is a recipe that fails silently at 60 cm.

If you keep a bench notebook for other work, the same discipline applies. A bar card and a bead card are the same object: a declared recipe with its measurements and its stated limits, which is exactly how a good reference handles cocktails and bar life, formula first and estimate second. The habit transfers.

Why declare the measurements in order?

Because a strand is a sequence, not a total. A 45 cm strand of 120 beads is not the same object as a 45 cm strand of 120 beads arranged differently, and only the order tells you which one you made.

Three reasons the order has to be written down:

• Repetition. If the card says "A B A C" you can rebuild it. If it says "mixed," you cannot.
• Fault finding. When the strand twists, you can read back through the order and find the section where the twist starts. Without the order you are guessing.
• Scaling. Every scaling decision is made on the repeat, and the repeat only exists if the order is written.

Write the order in the same direction every time. Pick left to right from the clasp end and stay with it. A card that flips direction halfway is worse than no card.

Measurements, not adjectives

"Loose" and "tight" do not survive a week. Write the tension as a number you can check: the length of thread between two beads when the strand hangs, or the number of beads per centimetre in the finished piece. One number beats three adjectives.

Measure on the strand, not on the board. A strand measured flat on the mat reads longer than the same strand hanging, because the thread path straightens under its own weight. Note which one you used.

How do you scale a formula for a longer strand?

Scale the repeat, not the count. Adding beads one at a time to a finished formula changes the rhythm of the piece; adding repeats keeps it.

Work in this order:

1. Find the repeat length. Measure one full repeat on the strand, in millimetres. If your repeat is "three 8/0, one 6/0, three 8/0," measure that whole unit once.
2. Divide the target by the repeat. A 60 cm target with a 12 mm repeat gives 50 repeats. Round to the nearest whole repeat, then accept the length that rounding produces.
3. Recheck the thread. Longer strand, more thread. Add the extra length to your starting thread, and add it generously, because a strand that runs out of thread two repeats from the end is a strand you cut apart.
4. Recheck the limits. If 50 repeats is past the longest version your card allows, the formula does not scale to 60 cm. Change the bead size or change the target. Do not force it.

A worked example. Repeat: 3 beads at 2.5 mm, 1 bead at 4 mm, 3 beads at 2.5 mm. Repeat length is 19 mm on the strand. Target 45 cm, so 450 mm divided by 19 mm is 23.7 repeats. Round to 24, which gives 456 mm, or 45.6 cm. Write 45.6 cm on the card, not 45 cm, because 45.6 is what the formula actually produces.

When the formula will not scale

Some formulas have a ceiling. A pattern that depends on a single focal bead in the centre cannot simply be doubled; you either get two focals or you move the focal and rebuild the rhythm. Write that ceiling on the card as a limit, with the number where it starts to fail.

Weight is the other ceiling. Past a certain length, a strand of heavy glass pulls the clasp and the thread path opens. If your card says the formula is good to 55 cm, that is a real limit, not a suggestion.

What to leave off the card

Leave off anything you cannot check later. Colour names from memory, the shop you bought from without a lot number, the mood you were in. None of it helps you rebuild the strand.

Leave off the total bead count as your primary number. Keep it as a check figure at the bottom if you like, but the repeat count is what you work from.

Leave off the finished photograph. A photograph shows the result; the card shows the method. Keep them in the same place if you want, but do not let the photograph stand in for the numbers.

Keeping the card usable at the bench

One card per piece, one piece per card. A card that covers three variations is a card you will misread at the bench with thread in your hand.

Write in pencil if the formula is still moving, in ink once it is settled, and date every change. A card with three dates on it tells you more about the formula than a clean card with none.

Store cards with the sample. A short offcut of the strand, taped to the card, settles arguments about finish and size faster than any description.

Finally, keep the limits field visible. Fold the card so the limits face you, or write them at the top. The limits are the part you need while you are stringing, and the part you will not read if it is on the back.