two Anglican rosaries

I made an Anglican rosary suitable for a man. I used 9x7mm black oval wooden beads for the week beads, and 10mm howlite globes for the invitatory and cruciform beads. The cross is carved from black horn. The rosary is cable-strung and the beads are fixed in place by separating them with matte black seed-beads. I showed it to a friend of a friend who prays the Anglican rosary. She was taken with its large size and soft, flexible drape (apparently the one she uses is small and stiff). She said she liked it, but wondered if I could make something more feminine. The result is the pink Anglican rosary at the top of the picture. For week beads I used frosted pink 10mm drucs with a partial AB finish. It uses the same 10mm howlite globes for the invitatory and cruciform beads. It is cable-strung and the beads are fixed in place with silver-lined crystal seed beads. The ornate base-metal cross has a faux oxidized silver finish.

Lutheran prayer beads

This week I made these two sets of Lutheran prayer beads. The larger set is the "Lutheran rosary" or "Lutheran Lenten Chaplet" of the same kind I made back in February. The smaller one is called the Wreath of Christ - Frälsarkransen or Savior Ring.

For the Lenten Chaplet, I got the black cross from my local bead store (JSM Bead Coop). It is carved from horn. The cable is covered with #15 matte black seed-beads from JSM. The small black beads (the weekday beads) are 7 millimeter wooden ovals [AMC #522] from Ave Maria's Circle. They slide on the cable as your fingers move over them in prayer. The larger black and gray globes (the Sunday beads) are fixed in position on the cable. They are snowflake obsidian and come from JSM too. The large white globe (the Easter bead) is howlite, and also comes from JSM.

The largest bead on the Savior Ring is the gold God bead. I used a gold colored globe of dichroic glass from JSM. Next largest in size are the seven 8mm rounds. Five of them are glass druks from JSM, and two are glass pearls [OLRM #655] from Our Lady's Rosary Makers. The 6mm rounds are Swarovski glass pearls. There are also six 5x9mm clear glass ovals from JSM. For an explanation of how these beads are prayed, go here.

brown Saint Joseph rosary 5

This shows the back of the crucifix and centerpiece. It is also the best picture for telling how well (or poorly) the colors of the crucifix, Hail-Mary beads, and Our-Father beads go together.

brown Saint Joseph rosary 4

the Our-Father beads are strung on 20 gauge copper wire and are connected to the decades of Hail-Mary beads with wrapped wire bows of the same wire.

brown Saint Joseph rosary 3

brown Saint Joseph rosary 2

brown Saint Joseph rosary

I made this to be like the black Saint Joseph rosary below, except I wanted to use brown wooden beads and crucifix. The copper wire for the Hail-Mary beads is 22 gauge and for the Our-Father beads and the wrapped wire bows, 20 gauge, both from the JSM Bead Coop. The crucifix is a 55mm (2 3/16 inch) long wooden crucifix stained golden brown (or "honey oak") with the corpus and titulus in nickel silver [AMC #350] from Ave Maria Circle. The Hail-Mary beads are 9x6mm oval, wooden beads stained a rosy brown from Our Lady's Rosary Makers [OLRM #761]. The Our-Father beads are 10.5x7mm, oval ridged wooden beads stained a light reddish brown (light brown) --[AMC #544] None of these colors match. The St. Joseph centerpiece is 25mm (1 inch) including the lower bail [AMC #242]. Wrapped wire bows are used to attach the crucifix and center, and to separate the Our-Father beads from the Hail-Marys.

Saint Benedict Rosary 2

Each bead is strung on silver colored craft wire. The Our-Father and Hail-Mary beads are strung on 20 gauge and 22 gauge wire respectively. The wire bows connecting the centerpiece, crucifix and Our-Father beads are made with 20 gauge wire. All loops are wrapped.

Saint Benedict Rosary

This rosary features a St Benedict medal centerpiece and a St Benedict crucifix. The crucifix (#502A at OLRM) including the bail, is 55 mm long (two and one eighth inches ) and the centerpiece (#597 at OLRM) is 16 mm in diameter (roughly dime-sized). The Hail-Mary beads are black wooden ovals, 9mm by 5mm (#508 at AMC) and the Our-Father beads are 10.5mm by 7mm grooved wooden ovals (#543 at AMC).

Rosary to be simultaneously prayed on all five continents

Rosary to be simultaneously prayed on all five continents

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habit rosary remake 7

habit rosary remake 6

habit rosary remake 5

habit rosary remake 4

the centerpiece is original and represents the sorrowful mother (Mary grieving at the foot of the Cross) on the front. The reverse shows Jesus displaying His Heart.

habit rosary remake 3

A habit rosary is one that is used by a monk or a nun, a religious brother or a religious sister and is worn as part of the religious habit (a habit is a "uniform" that members of religious orders sometimes wear.)

habit rosary remake 2

the chain separating the Our-Father beads from the decades of Hail-Mary beads is original. However the chain which probably connected the original crucifix with the original first Our-Father bead was missing (as were the original crucifix and the original first Our-Father bead) and was replaced by a wrapped wire bow. The circlet is about 44 inches in circumference and the drop is 9 and 7/8 inches long from the top of the centerpiece to the bottom of the crucifix. The length of the rosary is almost 32 inches long. (That is, if it were hung from a hook from the middle of the 3rd decade, the bottom of the crucifix would hang almost 32 inches below the hook.)

remaking a broken habit

This is a remake of a broken habit rosary I got at St Vincent de Paul thrift shop in Sheboygan, WI. It was missing 2 beads and the crucifix. I replaced the Our-Father beads with dramatic black and white swirled glass "tablets" (by which I mean a sort of rectangular prism with rounded corners and edges) 20mm x 11mm x 7mm, from JSM Bead Coop. I added a metal-bound black wooden crucifix, 57mm x 31mm [OLRM 549] from Our Lady's Rosary Makers. The Hail-Mary beads are 14mm x 9mm black wooden ovals. They were originally strung on tough stainless steel eye-pins, which I retained as much as possible, but I used 20-gauge nickel-silver craft wire, and wrapped wire loops and bows for the parts I had to replace.

Abbey Nous: Simple String Lord's Prayer Things to buy.

Abbey Nous: Simple String Lord's Prayer Things to buy.

cages, wrapped links and bows.

dogwood crucifix

This "dogwood" crucifix is a plain nickel-silver one and shows a dogwood blossom at each of the four points.

caged Our-Father rosary

rosary with caged Our-Father beads

I liked the St Joe rosary so much that I used the same Hail-Mary beads and Our-Father beads from Ave Maria's Circle on my next project. I used OLRM 509, a 49mm* nickel-sliver "dogwood" crucifix from Our Lady's Rosary Makers, and AMC 2226, a 25mm* nickel-silver miraculous medal center from Ave Maria's Circle. I was planing the turquoise Guadalupe rosary so I decided to use this rosary to practice caging the Our-Father beads. Each Our-Father bead is caged in a 6-inch helix of wire. Like the St Joseph rosary, each bead is strung on a wrapped wire link, and wrapped wire bows are used as connectors (instead of jump rings) and to separate the Our-Father beads from the decades of Hail-Mary beads (instead of a few links of chain). I used 20 gauge nickel-silver craft wire for the links, bows and cages. (*measurements include bails)

St Joe rosary

black wooden "Saint Joseph" rosary

Saint Joseph Rosary, black wood and copper wire

This rosary came out very well. Everything except the wire is from Ave Maria's Circle. The wire is 20 gauge copper wire from the JSM Bead Coop. The crucifix is 2 1/8 inch wooden crucifix stained black with the corpus and titulus in nickel silver [AMC #351]. The crucifix lacks the metal binding/backing that is common to this kind of crucifix. I wasn't sure how I would like it, but it turns out that the lack of backing emphasizes its simplicity and "woodenness." The Hail-Mary beads are 9x6mm oval, black wooden beads [AMC #508] which I bought in bulk. The Our-Father beads are 10.5x7mm, oval ridged black wooden beads--[AMC #543] This crucifix and these beads go very well together. The center is a 1-inch St. Joseph Center [AMC #242]. Wrapped wire bows are used to attach the crucifix and center, and to separate the Our-Father beads from the Hail-Marys. I didn't plan it this way, but the simplicity and wooden parts evoke a sense of St. Joseph. I like this rosary very much, but a friend of mine asked for it, and I gave it to him. I will have to make myself another one.

putting it together

The hardest thing about making this rosary was making the Our-Father beads, but the second hardest was finding a centerpiece which would compliment the rugged yet flashy turquoise. I knew from the beginning that I wanted a Guadalupe centerpiece, but I couldn't find one that looked right. Finally the rosary was completed except for the centerpiece. the decades are all strung, but the two decades above the centerpiece could not be crimped until I had something to crimp them to. The centerpieces I disliked the least are shown above with the unfinished rosary. After taking this photo, I decided not to go with either of them, and I found 3 more Guadalupe centerpieces on the web from two suppliers. I sent away for them. And they arrived Tuesday Feb 17. (they would have arrived on Monday, but the post office was closed.) One of them was just right. I am glad I waited.

Rosary of stabilized natural turquoise nuggets with Our Lady of Guadalupe centerpiece

Technical Information
This rosary is made with a combination of wire-wrapping and cable-stringing techniques.
Materials:
stabilized turquoise nuggets (53 large nuggets, and 18 chips)
49-strand stainless-steel-&-nylon beading cable
20-gauge silver craft-wire (copper wire coated with nickel-silver alloy (Nickel-silver is an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc. It contains no silver.))
silver-lined crystal seed beads.
sterling-silver crimp-tubes and sterling-silver wire-guardians
nickel-silver crucifix
nickel-silver Our Lady of Guadalupe centerpiece

Each Our-Father bead is made of 2 to 4 stabilized turquoise chips, strung on a length of 20-gauge craft wire. The chips are then caged together (wrapped in a spiral made from a second length of wire); and the ends of the stringing wire are then looped and wrapped to capture the caging wire.
Each decade is strung separately, on a separate length of beading cable, the turquoise nuggets separated by seed beads. The ends of the piece of cable are connected to the Our-Father beads or to the centerpiece with wire-guardians and crimp tubes.
The centerpiece and the crucifix are attached to the adjacent Our-Father beads with wrapped wire bows made from 20-gauge craft wire.

turquoise Guadalupe rosary

Centerpiece and Our-Father bead

Here you see the bottom of the circlet, the centerpiece and the top of the drop. Note the crimp tubes and the wire guardians linked to the bails a the top of the centerpiece. Wire guardians protect the cable from abrasion at the link with the bail.

I knew I wanted a Guadalupe centerpiece for this rosary, but I had a hard time finding something that looked right. I am glad I waited for this one from Lewis and Company. The rough edge and irregular form compliment the rough look of the rosary.

I linked the drop to the centerpiece with a wrapped wire bow. This is a good shot of it. Below it is the second Our-Father bead. The wrapped loop at the bottom of the Our-Father intersects with the wire guardian for the cable on which the three introductory Hail-Mary beads are strung.

Crucifix and Our-Father bead

This is the bottom of the drop from the turquoise rosary. From the top you see the bottom of the first Hail-Mary bead, seven silver-lined crystal seed beads, a sterling silver crimp tube, a sterling silver wire guardian, the first Our-Father bead [4 turquoise chips, caged, and strung together on a wrapped wire link]. Below that is a wrapped wire bow, and at the bottom, the crucifix.

turquoise rosary, caged Our Fathers

 

turquoise Our Lady of Guadalupe rosary

Photos from a digital camera

A friend came over with his digital camera, and took some more pictures of the Lutheran Lenten Chaplet.

Lutheran lenten chaplet

http://archive.elca.org/communication/rosary.html

I finished this project today. It is a rosary-like chaplet patterned on the structure of the liturgical season of Lent. The charcoal-gray pearl after the cross represents Ash Wednesday the next 3 amethyst crystals represent the next 3 Lenten weekdays, and the lavender pearl represents the first Sunday of lent. Skipping over the large white pearl in the center, the amethyst crystals represent the weekdays of Lent, and the pearls represent the Sundays. The rose pearl stands for Lætare Sunday. Finally, the large white pearl in the center symbolizes Easter Sunday.

*Around the circle, then, are beads for the days of Lent plus the Sundays of Lent (a little larger, a different color to make them stand out), for, of course, the Sundays are all celebrated as "little Easters" and thus are not counted among the 40 days of Lent. First four Lent beads, then one Sunday, then the rest in groups of six and one. The last bead is Easter and may be larger and lighter in color than all.