Forum - Newbies - help with making loops for alphas

pasteltrin

Professional

2 years, 6 months ago by pasteltrin

hi. i've watched mashaknot's alpha teardrop loop video (https://youtu.be/5sW_MjWFF58) over and over again but i cannot understand what she is saying at the start about cutting string. i'm trying to make pattern #121326 and i don't understand how many base strings to cut according to what she is saying. i don't want a string to stick out of the loop. but i also don't want to not have enough base strings.

how do you make your loops on alphas?

bennobee

Bracelet King

2 years, 6 months ago by bennobee

When you make teardrop loops, you begin by folding all of your strings in half. This doubles the amount of usable strings (if you folded 3 strings in half and made a teardrop loop with them, you would be left with 6 strings to knot with. If you folded 8 strings in half and made a teardrop loop, you would have 16 strings to knot with... etc.).

The pattern that you want to make has 11 base strings. 11 Is not divisible by 2. If you tried to fold 5 strings in half, that would only make 10 base strings to knot with. If you folded 6 in half, that would make 12. Therefore, you have to change the pattern a little bit. You could either add or subtract one base string (For that pattern, I would recommend either adding a row of purple--or whatever color you choose to use as the background--on the bottom, or you could even put some green on the bottom... or you could remove the top row of purple. Whatever you want to do!). This would give you either 10 or 12 base strings (depending on whether you want to add to or subtract from the original 11), plus 2 leading strings (since you fold the leading string in half too).

Once you decide whether you want to add or subtract, you can select and cut your string. Since each string will be folded in half to make two usable strings, they'll need to be about double the usual size that you would normally use. If you decided to add a base string to the pattern, you would need to end up with 12 base strings and at least 1 leading string. You would do that by folding 6 base strings and 1 leading string in half to make the teardrop loop. You would end up with 12 base strings and 2 leading strings. If you decided to remove a base string, you would need to end up with 10 base strings, so you would fold 5 base strings and 1 leading string in half to make the teardrop loop. You would end up with 10 base strings and 2 leading strings.

You would probably find this tutorial helpful: https://www.braceletbook.com/tutorials/133_shaped-starts-and-ends-for-odd-stringed-alphas/

pasteltrin

Professional

2 years, 6 months ago by pasteltrin

@bennobee okay! this is very helpful, but what do i do with the second leading string since i'll only need one?
also my pattern only has 10 base strings. what do you do when you have an even number?

bennobee

Bracelet King

2 years, 6 months ago by bennobee

Actually, now that you mention that, I think that maybe you wouldn't need to change the pattern. I think that you could fold 5 base strings (which would become 10) and 1 leading string, and then use the extra leading string as the other base string (so that you would end up with 11 base strings).

Sorry for the confusion. I've only made a teardrop loop once, like 8+ years ago, lol.

pasteltrin

Professional

2 years, 6 months ago by pasteltrin

@bennobee ahh thank you! i think i was just big time overthinking it haha. appreciate your help!

pasteltrin Professional	2 years, 6 months ago by pasteltrin hi. i've watched mashaknot's alpha teardrop loop video (https://youtu.be/5sW_MjWFF58) over and over again but i cannot understand what she is saying at the start about cutting string. i'm trying to make pattern #121326 and i don't understand how many base strings to cut according to what she is saying. i don't want a string to stick out of the loop. but i also don't want to not have enough base strings. how do you make your loops on alphas?
bennobee Bracelet King	2 years, 6 months ago by bennobee When you make teardrop loops, you begin by folding all of your strings in half. This doubles the amount of usable strings (if you folded 3 strings in half and made a teardrop loop with them, you would be left with 6 strings to knot with. If you folded 8 strings in half and made a teardrop loop, you would have 16 strings to knot with... etc.). The pattern that you want to make has 11 base strings. 11 Is not divisible by 2. If you tried to fold 5 strings in half, that would only make 10 base strings to knot with. If you folded 6 in half, that would make 12. Therefore, you have to change the pattern a little bit. You could either add or subtract one base string (For that pattern, I would recommend either adding a row of purple--or whatever color you choose to use as the background--on the bottom, or you could even put some green on the bottom... or you could remove the top row of purple. Whatever you want to do!). This would give you either 10 or 12 base strings (depending on whether you want to add to or subtract from the original 11), plus 2 leading strings (since you fold the leading string in half too). Once you decide whether you want to add or subtract, you can select and cut your string. Since each string will be folded in half to make two usable strings, they'll need to be about double the usual size that you would normally use. If you decided to add a base string to the pattern, you would need to end up with 12 base strings and at least 1 leading string. You would do that by folding 6 base strings and 1 leading string in half to make the teardrop loop. You would end up with 12 base strings and 2 leading strings. If you decided to remove a base string, you would need to end up with 10 base strings, so you would fold 5 base strings and 1 leading string in half to make the teardrop loop. You would end up with 10 base strings and 2 leading strings. You would probably find this tutorial helpful: https://www.braceletbook.com/tutorials/133_shaped-starts-and-ends-for-odd-stringed-alphas/
pasteltrin Professional	2 years, 6 months ago by pasteltrin @bennobee okay! this is very helpful, but what do i do with the second leading string since i'll only need one? also my pattern only has 10 base strings. what do you do when you have an even number?
bennobee Bracelet King	2 years, 6 months ago by bennobee Actually, now that you mention that, I think that maybe you wouldn't need to change the pattern. I think that you could fold 5 base strings (which would become 10) and 1 leading string, and then use the extra leading string as the other base string (so that you would end up with 11 base strings). Sorry for the confusion. I've only made a teardrop loop once, like 8+ years ago, lol.
pasteltrin Professional	2 years, 6 months ago by pasteltrin @bennobee ahh thank you! i think i was just big time overthinking it haha. appreciate your help!

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help with making loops for alphas