Partial whirlybird / 4in1 tutorial

I've wanted to make a whirlybird pendant for a long time but I didn't have the right size rings for the marbles I picked up. I was thinking of using dice but I wanted the shimmer of the marble. For those of you who don't know what a whirlybird is...--------->

Anyways, I decided to go ahead and make it with what I did have... everything but the right size middle ring.

Because this involves a 4in1 pattern, I'm going to show that to you also and then add an extra blog after this one of just the 4in1 later so someone can google just that.

What you will need for my partial whirlybird

12 small rings
3 medium rings (open)
3 large rings (open) (by the way, this is optional, you can do it all in medium rings if your marble will fit in that)
1 marble

To show size ratios

Thin ribbon

To show how I set everything up before I get started

Now we begin the 4 in 1

Take a medium (open) ring. Add 4 small (closed) rings to it, then close it.



Take 2 of those rings and open them to where they mirror each other. So if the bottom one is under in the middle, the top one should be under the medium ring in the middle.

Take a large ring and put it down into the bottom small ring and then have it come up through the top small ring. Now add two small rings to that one before you close it. Then fold the new small rings over the rings you just connected the large ring to. They should overlap.

Repeat the same process you just did with the large ring but this time with a medium ring. Make sure you add two new small rings to it before you close it. Repeat alternating large and medium rings in this process until you've used up all your rings. The strand you end up with should have the middle rings overlapping one way and the small rings overlapping the opposite way.


 Now comes the hard part. We have to connect the two ends. Whatever way you do that, make sure that last large ring overlaps the medium ring on the other end. What works best for me is to loop it around my pointer finger and still doing the down through one purple and up through the other.

Roll it over your pinky to inspect it.

You've made it to the fun part!!! Put the marble in the middle. And if you've used the right sized rings, you should have to work it into the middle. If it goes in so easily it falls out the other side without a push, you need to lose one of the larger rings and two of the smaller rings. 



You have two options now. You can either leave it like this and use super glue or nail polish around the edges to hold the marble in place. OR you can make a really easy necklace out of this by following the next few steps.

Take your ribbon and put it through the middle of one of your small rings. Continue to put it through the rest of this circle (around the marble). When you get to the last ring, put it through the middle then cross your strand of lace over to the other side. Loop it through just like you did the first time, get to the center, and double knot it. If you've left enough ribbon on both sides, you can now tie it around your neck for a necklace.



Here's what I ended up with
And it's awesome because you shine a light on it and it goes all Iron Man heart thing.


I made this one with an easy hook and eye clasp and it's up on Etsy for 8$

The glow on a black table