On silver necklaces they strung
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, on twisted wire
They meshed the light of moon and sun.

-- J.R.R.Tolkien, the Hobbit

This pattern is named in reference to Dis, the daughter of Thrain, sister of Thorin and Frerin, and mother of Fili and Kili. According to Tolkien’s genealogy of the House of Durin, Dis survived the deaths of her grandfather, father, husband, both her brothers, and her twin sons. I often think about this woman, the only female dwarf named in Tolkien’s writings, and how bereft she must have felt upon hearing the news of the simultaneous deaths of Thorin, Fili and Kili in the Battle of Five Armies.

The inspirational elements of sunlight and moonlight will be explored both in the choice of stitch motifs and in the choice of bead colours. There are three levels of beading suggested in the pattern, and to realize the inspiration of the pattern it is recommended that your bead choices reflect Sunlight (a warmer tone) and Moonlight (a cooler tone).

The beading ‘levels’ are named for the important family figures in the Hobbit:

• “Fili and Kili” - minimal beading in the last 2 sections: 240 beads “sunlight,” 264 beads “moonlight”
• “Thorin” - medium beading in first, and last 3 sections: 640 beads “sunlight,” 714 beads “moonlight”
• “Thrain” - maximum beading in all sections: 1090 beads “sunlight,” 1184 beads “moonlight”

Other Materials:

• 700 yards lace weight yarn: solid or semi-solid colours recommended
• 3.5mm needles, or size required for gauge
• a small (0.5mm) crochet hook or other tool for adding beads to a stitch

This pattern is broken down into seven distinct sections. Each section is fully charted and fully written; the .pdf for this pattern is quite large, but is formatted so that the directions you prefer (charts or written) can be printed separately.