Finished!

I have been working on a talking stick and after three and half years, it is finished! Its about 18 inches long and the center beadwork is the hand hold.

We use talking sticks on the Trail during our fire circles. A fire circle is when someone brings up a topic to discuss around the fire in the evenings. (The topics can be on anything but many times they are to help people ponder about their life or their relationships with others.) Whoever holds the talkings stick can speak; they can speak for as long as they wish. When they are done, they say their Trail name or Honor Name and that they "have spoken" to let others know they are finished before passing on the stick. This one is a bit extravagent for the Trail. Usually they are simple and smaller so they can be carried in our packs but I used it as an excuse to learn gourd stitch beadwork.

One reason it has taken so long is the learning curve on this particular style of beadwork. I had to restart it six times before I figured out the proper way to do it. The spiraling of the beads can get confusing. It also takes longer than other methods because you have to put each bead on individually and then thread it to the row of beads above it. It creates a sort of net around the object when it is finished.