Seed-Stitch Look Herringbone

I've been working the beads and the clay a tiny bit.   I tested out some stamps on polymer clay and have unsuccessfully tried my hand at the peyote bias (an edge increase and decrease in every row) "Dewdrop Diagonal Bracelet" in Carol Huber Cypher's book, Mastering Beadwork.  Something is not clicking  in that one.  I took it apart and started over at least three times.  I even printed edge increase and decrease directions from a couple of different sites.  This did lead me to realize that there are more names for the increases and decreases than I thought - not just edge, mid-project, gradual, and rapid.  My basic problem is that after I make the increase, even though I know how many beads to add, I can't figure out where to put the last bead in the row that follows the increase. It is not lining up for me.  I had a few glimmers of hope while looking at diagrams, but when I put needle and thread to bead, I was back to square one (well, maybe 1.5).  Fortunately, the little bead shop in Havana, Florida is having a "Bring a project and we'll help you" afternoon on July 18th.  Meet me in Havana!

Seed-Stitch Look Bracelet from Carol Huber Cypher

I made a button hole and toggle closure, but it doesn't really go with the inclusions that I added to the end.  I think a button is actually needed for the closure.

To get a little taste of success, I moved on to the herringbone project, above.  This one is easy, although I abandoned her method for starting the first tow row and used two base rows of square stitch.  I actually think that ladder stitch is a better, cleaner (less thread showing) technique to use for a base stitch.  I usually do a two needle ladder stitch so that I don't loose my mind.  Being left-handed makes certain stitches ridiculously hard for me to follow from written directions and even from diagrams.

Mostly I am suffering from terrible itchy hives.   I will not go into all the gory details, but I will say that they started on both hands and both below the elbow, then on my legs below the knee.  A two days went by and they started to get worse and spread above my knee.  Nothing at all is stopping the progression, although 1,000 mg acetaminophen  every 4-5 hrs. is helping calm the itch a little. I mention it here because from what I understand, many people suffer from similar hive formations. I will be in my doctor's office as soon as it opens in the morning.