About a year ago I became interested in the idea of creating a paternoster or two. I had seen them in a variety of period illuminations and noticed that some of them are quite beautiful. With a common thread of religion and/or faith in the middle ages, it seems likely that many women would have carried some form of prayer beads.
Since college, I have enjoyed making beads and making projects with beads. This seemed like a great new challenge. I began looking around online, and quickly found an excellent site called Paternoster Row.
After more reading and research, I decided to make a paternoster. There have been some interesting issues as to what to string the beads with. Because the paternoster rubs on my belt, the cotton threads have broken on me twice. You can imagine beads flinging everywhere in the middle of an event. Talk about embarrassing. Finally, I decided to combine the thread with a stronger clear filament. So far, it seems to have worked.
This paternoster made its debut at 12th Night 2008. The tassels are a much deeper color than this picture indicates, a rich purple.
I like the idea of carrying prayer beads.
~ Cristiana
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