St. Hedwig's rosary

Another large linear rosary I've made is patterned after the long graceful strand St. Hedwig is wearing in this 13th-century manuscript illumination.

Hers is uncolored, but I'd been looking for an excuse to make something out of lapis lazuli. I was able to buy two strands of 12mm beads that had been sitting around the bead store for a while, so the price was reasonable. (It's also not "A" quality lapis, but I decided I didn't care; it still looks lovely.)

The delaying factor on this one was that I was determined to use real rock crystal (quartz) for the gauds or marker beads. It's difficult to find plain round rock crystal bigger than about 8mm, but I was finally able to order some from Earthstone online, through a friend who has a business license (they are wholesale only).

This is strung on black silk, with a tassel of the same. Although Hedwig's beads in the picture are again not a round number, I decided about fifty beads looked to be about the right length. I tied knots between each bead, since I certainly don't want to lose any if the silk breaks. (This also makes the string longer and more flexible.)

The cross is one I got through Rosary Workshop. The six-sided brooch is pewter, the closest I could find to the one St. Hedwig is wearing. There are a number of people on the Internet now selling this sort of thing. It unfortunately has a very large pin, so I can only actually use it on loosely woven or coarse fabric. The challenge in putting it on is to remember to pull up a small bunch of fabric through the center hole first, then make sure several beads are also pulled up through it as well. Then the pin is carefully run through the tip of the fabric and between two beads, and everything is then carefully pulled back through, so the brooch lies flat.

The crowned "A" brooch is pewter, patterned after a medieval pilgrim's badge, and several sources sell them. One theory is that the "A" stands for "Amor vincit omnia," or "Love conquers all." This one was given me as a personal thank-you by a participant in one of my classes, whose husband cast it. The little crescent on top is his addition.

It's only recently occurred to me that, besides wearing this pinned to the front of my gown or to the shoulder, I can also probably wear it wrapped several times around my upper arm just above the elbow, and pinned there. I'm finding this is a convenient place to wear a rosary, since it doesn't get in the way of my hands if I'm doing something with them.