Chekere Making, Part III

I received my new gourd dye in the mail the other day and I've just been dyeing to tell you...Get it? Dyeing? Gourd dye? Heh heh, ha, . . . um. Yes I'm a dork. So last night I put a bunch of newspaper down in the bathtub and climbed in and got to work with my new gourd dye. I also got a special gourd dye applicator thingie that worked out well. Here's the end result:

When it dried, it ended up looking a little less red. But then when you've got it under the light it looks red again. I think I like it, depending on the light. The dye works fabulously. Goes on nice and even and smooth and stains it rich and dark. Comes in 17 colors. Hardly got any on my hands thanks to the applicator thingie. Varnishing tonight and then, ack, the dreaded next step: beading. Haven't even got the beads yet--was thinking of going to look for those this weekend. I just hope I get ones that sound good because I don't want to get done with all the macrame work only to find out that the chekere goes fizz when I want it to go CLACK. Ah well, live and learn.