So of couse it wasn't 1268- that would be too lucky!

Fortunately I realised today I didn't want to take a chance on ordering online and getting the wrong beads so I headed off to The London Bead Co and looked at 1268 and panicked. It was very nearly the same colour as the one I was running out of but not the same. All I could think of was that maybe the batch was slightly different leading to to the new ones being a bit darker and bluer? My dilemma now would be did I start all over again with the new colour and undo my hours of work using the old batch or would  somehow be able to integrate the colour change?

Yet more fortunately I asked Faye, who part-owns the shop with her daughter, if she thought they were the same bead and she said 'No'. If she hadn't, I would have assumed the worst, bought the new beads and gone home and probably started again.

Her confidence that it was too different to be a batch change led to some of scanning of the racks whilst trying to calm myself with deep breaths and soon we had found number 878- the right ones! I was so close when I remembered 378 but none of this would have happened if I hadn't stupidly not stuck tape over the label when I noticed it was coming off- serious lesson learnt.

I spent the day beading my latest geometric piece and it is slowly growing. Of course while beading it I have had an idea for a variation which I am now itching to try out...