rosary

Make Your Own Rosary

First, A bit of background ... because I'm like that.

Rosary - from the latin 'rosarium' meaning Rose Garden.
A Rosary is a system in which a set number of prayers are recited. A string of beads is usually used to keep count.The string of beads is what is known as a Chaplet ... but it is often referred to as a Rosary.

The practice was started by the Eastern Christian Monks in the Third Century.
The Roman Catholic Rosary is associated with St. Dominic in the 13th Centruy.

Now, on to making the Rosary - I'll put up photos when I can.

Simple Rosary

You will need:

53 beads (8mm / 3/16in) - faceted or smooth
6 beads (1cm / 1/2 in) - faceted or smooth - can also be shaped (roses, skulls etc.)
3 point connector
Pendant - Cross, Crucifix, Pentacle, Ankh, Bat, anything that appeals to you.
String - I'm not sure what length ... so make it really long ^_^
Needle (optional) - this can make stringing the beads on a little easier.

What to do:

Start by attaching the string to one of the top loops on the 3 point connector.
String 10 of the 8mm beads on - If you'd like, you can tie a knot between each bead - I do this.
after the 10 beads are on, tie a knot in the string, then add one of the larger beads, tie another knot, and string on 10 more beads. Then a large bead, then 10 beads, Large bead, 10 beads.
You have now used 50 of the 8mm beads, and 4 of the larger beads.
Tie the loose end of the string to the second top loop on the 3 point connector.
Cut off any extra string.

Tie a piece of string to the bottom loop on the 3 point connector.
Add one large bead, the remaining 3 smaller beads, and then the final large bead.
Tie the end into a knot.

Tie this end onto your pendant, and cut off any extra string.

There's your simple rosary.

3 point connector
usually semi-triangular with a loop at each point
wil usually be patterned

Complicated Rosary

You will need:

59 beads - all the same
or
53 beads (8mm / 3/16in) - faceted or smooth
6 beads (1cm / 1/2 in) - faceted or smooth - can also be shaped (roses, skulls etc.)

3 point connector
Pendant - Cross, Crucifix, Pentacle, Ankh, Bat, anything that appeals to you.
Length of fine chain
Eye pins (get a pack of 100 - they sometimes break while you're working with them) - make sure you get the short ones!
Needle-nose plyers

What to do:

This one is a lot more difficult to explain, so I'll include diagrams. email me if you need help.

Take one eye pin (fig.1) and put a bead onto it (fig.2)
Take another eye pin and put it onto the first eye pin. (fig.3)
Using the needle-nose pliers, curl the open end around to close it. (fig.4)
Continue doing this until you have a string of 9 beads. (fig 5) with one empty eye pin.
Put a bead on this eye pin, and close it. Do not add another eye pin.

Make 4 more of these strings and set them aside. (for a total of 5 strings of 10 beads)

Then:
Follow the above directions to make 1 string of 3 beads. (fig.5)

Next:
Take one eye pin, put a bead on it, and close the pin. (fig.6)
Do this 5 more times. (for a total of 6)
(if you are using the 53/6 combination of beads, use the 6 different beads for this)

Take the length of chain.
Count 5 links (fig.7), and with the needle-nose plyers, open the 5th link (be careful not to drop it!) and take the 5 links off of the length of chain.
Put the open link onto the eye pin of one of the single beads (fig.6) and close it using the pliers.
Repeat this 5 more times for a total of 6 beads, with chain on one side.

On four of the beads, put chain on the other side of the bead as well. (fig.8)
You will have 4 beads with chain on both sides, and 2 beads with chain on one side.

Now you can start to put everything together ...

Take the string of 3 beads and one of the beads with the single chain. Open the end of the chain, and attach it to the end of the string of beads.
Repeat with the second single chain bead, and the other end of the string.
Take the Pendant and attach it to the eye pin on one end of the string. (fig.9)

Now ...
Take the 3 point connector (shown wayyy above) and one string of 10 beads.
Open the eye pin at one end of the beads (just a little), and attach it to one of the top loops of the connector. Close the eye pin.
Take one of the beads that has chain on both sides, and open the chain on one side. Attach the chain to the eye pin on the end of the string of 10 beads. (fig.10)

Open the chain on the other end of the single bead, and attach it to another string of 10 beads. Add another bead with chain, and another string of 10. Another bead with chain, and another string of 10. Attach the final single bead with chain, and attach the final string of 10 beads.

Open the eye pin at the end of the beads (just a little) and attach it to the other top loop on the 3 point connector. Close the pin (fig.11)

Now you can attach the piece with the Pendant string to the 'necklace' part
Open the eye pin at the top of the pendant string (fig.9) (just a little) and attach it to the bottom loop of the 3 point connector. Close the pin.

You should now have a finished Rosary that looks something like fig.12

I will add a photograph of one that I have made once I complete it (I made one using this method, and it got lost ... so I'm currently working on another one)

fig.1

fig.2

fig.3

fig.4

fig.5 >

fig.6

fig.7

fig.8 >

fig.9

For the next section of images, the blue beads represent the single beads with chain attached.

The silver beads are the strings of beads.

fig.10

fig.11

fig.12 >

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If you don't want to make your own, there is a wonderful website that does custom rosaries (www.gothrosary.com) AntiSally is wonderful to order from, and her work is beautiful. She also offers other accessories, and some very interesting goth-y fragrances. - I am not affiliated with her, but I wanted to promote her anyways.