[Nfb-krafters-korner] abacus bracelet

[Annette Carr]

You can find abacus bracelets through various websites.  I had gotten mine
through Joyce who had them as a fundraiser or something like that.  Someone
else had recently posted that either they or someone they know makes them.

They are pretty simple, so if you know anyone who does beading, they could
make one pretty easily.  You would need:   

- a length of wire or cord that would be the length of twice your wrist plus
a few more inches.  
- 2 sets of 10 beads that differ by size, texture or shape.  
- 2 additional beads that are different from each other as well as different
than those in the 2 sets of 10.  
- 1 bracelet closure.
- a small piece of elastic cord.
- Some small beads to be used on the elastic cord.  


I do not know anything about beading, so from here I will describe the
bracelet so that someone who knows about beading can figure out what to do.

You will have 2 strands of wire going around your wrist.  One will hold one
set of 10 beads and the other will hold the other set of 10 beads.  These
wires need to fit around your wrist loosely.  The sets of 10 beads need to
be able to slide freely from one end of the wire to the other end.  Leaving
approximately 1 to 1.5 inches of wire not covered by these beads should
allow enough room to slide the beads from end to end for counting.  

The 2 remaining beads that are different from each other and different than
the 2 sets of 10 will be placed at either end of the bracelet holding the 2
wires with the 2 sets of 10 beads.  These beads will be used to help you
identify the opposite ends of the bracelet.  Some bracelets use some type of
charm or dangling item at one end of the bracelet instead of the different
beads.

The small beads will be placed on the elastic cord to form a ring around the
2 wires with the sets of 10 beads.  This ring will be used to pass each of
the beads in the 2 sets of 10 through for counting.

To use this type of abacus bracelet, you will identify one set of 10 beads
to represent the ones digits and the other to represent the 10's digits.
Slide a 1's bead through the ring to represent the row that you are working
on or the row that you just finished.  Once you have moved all 10 ones beads
through the ring. Move one 10's bead through the ring and slide all 10 ones
beads back to the other side of the ring to prepare for row 11.  Now
continue moving the ones beads to indicate row 11, 12, 13, etc.  So one 10's
bead plus 1 ones bead equals 11 rows, plus 2 ones beads equals 12, and so
on.  Once you have completed rows 11-20, you will slide another 10's bead
through the ring and all of the ones beads back to the other side of the
ring.  Now your beads indicate row 20 by having only 2 10's beads on the one
side of the ring.  

You can also use the bracelet to keep track of rows in a pattern and the
number of repeats along each row.  One set of 10 beads represents the rows
and the other represents the repeats along a row.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Annette




-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of vlondon
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 6:26 PM
To: List for blind crafters and artists
Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] abacus bracelet

Hi Annette,

Where would one find an abacus bracelet?

Vickie
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