Beaded Crochet

After being late finishing last months post, I thought you deserved a quick but useful article on beading!

 

I've been crocheting and blogging for quite some time now, and yet I am constantly surprised by what I do not know! It was only this year that all the information necessary fell into place.

The first problem you will experience is finding beads that will actually fit your yarn. Just because your pattern calls for a No6 bead, there's no guarantee that your No6 bead will have a big enough hole size for your yarn. As seems to be the usual case, nothing is standardised in crochet or textiles. We in the UK do not even speak the same English language as those of you across the pond in the USA! Beads are no different, so shopping for beads in person rather than on the internet is essential.

That being said, I have recently discovered Pony beads. These are large plastic beads with a 4mm hole. Wooden beads may also be a good choice as you can use a needle file to widen the hole, if you have the patience!

 

There are two basic methods for using beads. Method one; is when you pre-string the beads and the bead ends up on the Back of your work. Method two; is less common, each bead if is picked up when it is required and ends up on the Front of your work.

 

Method One

     Pre-stringing the beads

All the beads you will be using need to be pre-strung on your yarn in the order of use. This presents some problems!

There are lots of methods we could use to get the beads on the yarn, the easiest is with a beading needle.

My preferred method is with a 'Big Eye Needle'. These come in different sizes, but are basically two pieces of delicate steel joined at each end. By applying a little pressure on both ends of the needle, the gap easily opens to allow your yarn to be inserted. It is also a speedy method as you can pick up many beads at the same time.

You can also look for a 'twisted wire' needle. These tend to be very flimsy but have a large open eye at one end. Once the yarn is inserted in the eye it can be closed to allow passage through the bead.

The cheapest alternative is to make your own 'big eye' using a fine needle and cotton thread. Thread the needle with a short piece of sewing cotton and tie off the end to form a loop. The yarn goes through the cotton loop and is pulled through the beads behind the needle.

     

    To crochet

Bearing in mind that the beads will end up on the Back of your work, you should only add in the beads when you are working on the Wrong Side; this is similar to when you are working bobble stitches.

You can use the same method for taller stitches, depending on the result you wish to achieve. Which ever size of stitch you are making the instructions are the same.

• Make the stitch as usual, right up to the 'last yarn over and pull through' 
• Pull the bead right up to the stitch
• Yarn over the hook and pull through all remaining loops on the hook.

 

You can also place the bead between the stitches. In this case after the first stitch is made, pull up a bead and continue to make the next stitch. You can compare the slight difference between the image immediately above and the first image before the instructions.

 

Method Two

This is especially useful when you are only able to work from the Right Side of your crochet. I discovered this method recently when I was making Beaded Fidget balls. The draw back here is that you have to pick up the beads individually as the work progresses. To do this you will need a bead with a large enough hole for a crochet hook to go through. This is where those Pony beads come in handy. Alternatively a thread-crochet needle may work or if you are lucky enough to have a Crochet-tatting needle, which has a long slender shaft.

 

    To Crochet

 When working on the right side of your work and making a Dc (Sc-US).

• Place the bead on the hook first before beginning the stitch
• Put the hook in the next stitch 
• Yarn over and pull the loop through both the stitch and the bead
•  Yarn over and pull through the 2 loops on the hook to finish the stitch as usual

If your hook is too big to fit in the bead;

• Place your hook into the first stitch and pull up a loop
• Drop the loop from your hook
• Place a bead on a smaller hook, which will go through the bead
• Grab the loop and pull through the bead
• Swap back to your main hook to finish the stitch

 

Comparing the Two Methods 

The post of a Dc (Sc-US) is actually made of three strands. Two at the front and one at the back.

In Method1 the bead is held on the single strand which forms at the back of the work. Even if you place the bead between stitches it is still only held on a single strand.

In Method2 the bead is held on the pair of strands at the front of the work. The result is that the single strand holds the beads more loosely on the fabric. Whereas the double strand holds the beads more embedded into the fabric. This might be something you want to consider depending on what you are making.

For these reasons I don't recommend Method2 for stitches larger then Dc (sc-US), but try it and see what you think!

 

A short and sweet post for this month but I hope the information will prove useful and you have fun experimenting.

fastening off...