Today's theme for #MyBeadingYear is 'My Favourite beading tool, tip or trick'.

There is so much I could write on this subject!

There are so things which can make our beading lives easier, from using shorter beading threads to having good light. From avoiding shiny beads (or at least understand the issues they cause which I literally just remembered was the subject of the first blog post I wrote over 14 years ago) to not having a tiny thread tail.

But for this post I've pared it down to the essential tools I always have when beading are:

• Arthritis gloves (or similar) - a few years ago I realised I was hurting my hands a lot when beading and one of the causes was pulling threads tight against my hand. Wearing some sort of glove really helps to put a stop to that and will help you to injure your hands less
• Cohesive bandage - if you find pushing against your needle end with your finger means you are often cutting or injuring your finger or always have very rough or torn skin then protecting it with a covering will really help.
  I cannot get on with thimbles and over the years tried many different plasters & tapes to wrap around my ring finger but I was never happy with any of them - the even got too tight as I worked, didn't allow my finger to flex, cut into me or got sticky.
  Then someone at a class recommended this to me and it changed my life and my finger issues stopped immediately.
  This is a non-sticky bandage that has a lot of stretch to it and sticks to itself so it can be unwrapped and reused multiple times (or I pull mine off like a thimble and pop it back on again).
  It's very flexible & lightweight and I find it doesn't interfere or feel strange at all - I love it
• A magnet - we get so blasé having these sharp objects around us all the time and forget just how dangerous they are. I always try to never have more than one needle on my mat at any time so I don't lose track of them and always have a magnet so that I can store the needle quickly for any reason
• Sharp Scissors - a must for dealing with sneaky threads
• A bead breaker or awl - breaking beads by pushing down on them with pliers is much more likely to cut your thread as you're pressing the broken glass down onto your thread.
  Instead you should break the bead by exploding it outwards and the best way to do this is with an awl or a bead breaker (a push pin stored in an eraser to keep it safe)
  Always make sure you remove all the broken glass once you do this to reduce the potential to tear your thread

You can see what other people are posting via MyBeadingYear on Instagram.