Beaded
Kiku Variation
Mark a prepared ball with S-16. The obi line is optional, because
it eventually will be completely covered by the design. It may be
helpful to leave the obi pins in place for the first few rows.
You will need 128 beads for this design, with holes that are large
enough to allow your threaded needle to pass through the hole twice.
(webmaster's note: A Japanese seed bead size E is a good starting
choice).
Start your first design color just under an obi pin. Place a bead
on the thread, make a small herringbone stitch about ¼ inch from
the upward-facing pole around the next vertical. Come back
through the bead, return to the obi line on the next vertical, make a
small herringbone stitch just below the obi pin. Continue in this
manner until you have gone around the ball once. Move your thread
to the next vertical that was not used at the obi pin and repeat this
operation one more time. Do this complete operation once again to
cover the area facing the opposite pole. At the end of this round
there should be a herringbone facing north and south around each of the
obi pins and sixteen beaded herringbones around each pole.
 
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Start your next
design color
just under the obi herringbone for the first color. Slide a bead
onto the thread. Make your next ‘north’ herringbone such that it
goes around the X of the herringbone that passed through the bead used
in row 1 and passes through the second row’s bead when the stitch is
completed. (Refer to the photo of the beaded polar region
detail.)
The next obi herringbone should be placed below the obi herringbone of
pass 1. This will keep the threads parallel to each other.
(Refer to the photo of the obi region detail.) Continue to alternate
placing a beaded herringbone just under the prior row’s beaded stitch
and the obi stitch just south of the previous row’s obi stitch.
After completing the first pass, offset by one vertical line and work
the second pass. Flip the ball and work both passes in a similar
manner for the south side of the ball.
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After four rows of stitches with beads for each pole, stop using the
beads but continue to place your pole-side herringbone stitch around
the X of the previous row’s herringbone stitch and your obi-side
herringbone stitch just past the corresponding stitch of the previous
row. When you have roughly enough space for one more row of
thread to fit between the obi overlaps and the lacy region coming from
the poles, work one row of herringbone stitches that zigzag between the
north side’s stitch column and the stitch column from the south side on
the next line. (These are the light orange stitches that are just
outside the obi’s diamond areas in the detail picture.) Offset by
one line and work another zigzag, in order to form a diamond shaped
outline that isolates the lacy region from the overlapped region.
Take care to keep the lines of thread parallel as you work. If
desired, you can add a small tacking stitch where the last rows
intersect.
