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Seed bead
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seed beads or rocailles[1][2] are uniformly shaped, spheroidal beads ranging in size from under a millimeter to several millimeters. Seed bead is also a generic term for any small bead. Usually rounded in shape, seed beads are most commonly used for loom and off-loom bead weaving. They may be used for simple stringing, or as spacers between other beads in jewelry.
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Larger seed beads are used in various fiber crafts for embellishment, or crochet with fiber or soft, flexible wire. The largest size of a seed bead is 1/0 ("one-aught", sometimes written 1/°) and the smallest is 24/0, about the size of a grain of sand.[3] However, seed beads that are size 5/0 or 6/0 are usually called "pony beads" rather than "seed beads"; the next larger class of seed beads, from 3/0 to 4/0, are usually called "trade beads"; the largest class of seed beads, including 1/0, 2/0, and anything larger, are usually referred to as "crow beads." The range of seed beads in most modern seed bead work covers the sizes 6/0, 8/0, 11/0, 12/0, 13/0 and 15/0. Sizes 6/0, 8/0 and 11/0 are often used in beaded knitting, as well as bead knitting. The extremely small class of seed beads smaller than 15/0 have not been in production since the 1890s and any in existence are usually considered antiques.[4]
The very small holes in the centers of most seed beads means that stringing them usually requires the use of a specialized long narrow needle called a beading needle.