Pattern Previews for Beaded Colourwork
Beaded Colourwork by Jeanette Sloan brings together sparkly beads, cosy yarns and chic silhouettes in 17 contemporary designs. The collection includes both accessories and garments — from stylish beanies and shawls to a luxurious poncho and an eye-catching cardigan — designed to make beaded knitting approachable and fun.
Beatrice
Adorned with a beaded border at each opening edge, this sideways-knitted cardigan is a real statement piece. Inspiration came from one of my favourite pieces of knitwear, a 1950s beaded cardigan bought from a vintage shop in Edinburgh. The body of the jacket features beaded front panels and a slip-stitch finish on the lower edge.
Yarn: Viva by Symfonie in Black Pepper.
Weyan
This scarf is knitted in two shades. The grey is the perfect canvas for the five different colours of beaded colourwork and garter stitch texture that form the deep borders of this design. Intriguingly, the lime, although brighter, provides more subtle contrast with a diagonal slip-stitch stripe. Weyan is knitted in two pieces that are grafted at the centre, and slip-stitch side edges and an i-cord bind-off give it a sleek finish.
Yarn: Suilven DK by Ripple Crafts in Hiding From The Dyepots and A Slice of Lime.
Sammie
Knitted in the round from the top down, Sammie is inspired by the style of a casual top Jeanette’s husband, Sam, loved to wear. It has a simple, fully fashioned silhouette that’s the perfect vehicle to show off the V-shaped beading on the front neck and sleeves. This design is a great example of how you can make an impact with just a few colours of bead, thoughtfully placed.
Yarn: Annapurna by A Verb for Keeping Warm in Nautiliina.
Darnsa
This elegant poncho shows what is possible when you combine different sizes of beads within a project. Each beaded block is worked individually, almost like a sample. Once joined into a single panel, the rest of that section is worked in stockinette stitch. The softness of mYak’s Baby Camel helps make this garment a timeless layering piece.
Yarn: Baby Camel Road by mYak in Copper Red, Gobi and Thar.
Mieche
Mieche is a cute little zip clutch that is perfect for stowing your essentials on a night out. It is decorated with three colours of bead that form a wide band of beading down the front. German short rows have been used to compensate for the difference in tension between the beaded front and the unbeaded back.
Yarn: Jacob DK by Ballyhoura Fibres in Wild Nephin National Park.
Ephra
When designing this collection, I knew I had to include a top-down triangular shawl. Not only because they’re always useful for keeping out the cold, but their ingenious construction makes them an ideal canvas for beaded colourwork. Here, Ephra features single-bead placement and two-bead floats in combination with slip stitches and a two-coloured braid, resulting in a wonderfully deep, decorative edge on an otherwise plain design.
Yarn: Brimham HT by Eden Cottage Yarns in Stone and Rosedale 4ply by Eden Cottage Yarns in Fern.
Barin
Barin is based on a simple beanie, but, of course, with a beaded colourwork twist. I wanted to explore the interplay between the columns of different coloured beads and the 1 x 1 rib, each of which rises and falls around the circumference of the hat.
Yarn: Laine x Novita DK in Deep Burgundy.
St John
Skinny scarves are always a great way to use up yarn from your stash. After all, who hasn’t bought a skein of hand-dyed fingering-weight with absolutely no precise project in mind? St John is the ideal project to turn that skein into a real statement piece. Knitted in one piece and worked entirely in stockinette stitch, it features deep bands of beaded colourwork combining single bead placement with two- and three-bead floats.
Yarn: Posh Fingering by At Haynes House Yarns in Rum Punch.
Comfort
This slouchy roll-neck sweater is worked flat and features a densely beaded centre front panel. The gently marled fabric contrasts beautifully against the beads. With lots of positive ease, the design just had to be called Comfort.
Yarn: Cumulus by Fyberspates in Sea Green and Socks Yeah 4ply by Coopknits in Larimar.
Carters
This cross-body bag is deliberately understated in terms of shape, so the eye is drawn to the beaded colourwork border. It features slip stitches and garter-stitch columns. The garter stitch side gussets help define the bag’s shape and the length of the straps, which grow out of the bag body, can be adjusted as required.
Yarn: Sunday Morning DK by Sonder Yarn Co in Free Spirit and Sunday Morning 4ply by Sonder Yarn Co in Radio Flyer.
Atrici
Atrici is a half-pi-shaped shawl. The five different shades of bead in this lace and slip-stitch design pick up on the different tones used along the length of the fade, resulting in a design that is much more tonal than many of the designs in this book. Just the thing perhaps if bold, clashing colours aren’t for you.
Yarn: Killarney Sock by The Blue Brick in Nicaragua
Kurt
This is another design where a simple shape is injected with some beaded colourwork magic with eye-catching results. Worked in the round, this cowl comes in a choice of either a short, DK-weight version or a longer, sport-weight version. Each is worked from a number of charts that alternate bands of dense beading with slip stitches and garter stitch in the body of the piece.
Yarn: Tandem by West Wool in Beatrix (short version) / Opus by Walcot Yarns in Key Lime Pie (long version).
Rikki
I have always enjoyed combining different types of materials when designing knitted bags, so when I discovered Muud’s range of DIY accessories, I had to include some in this book. Rikki is worked in the round with bands of beaded colourwork alternated with moss stitch and a curved shape that echoes the round leather lid.
Yarn: Langsoond DK by Donna Smith Designs in Shetland Black.
1 x Camila lid #1360 by Muud in Rich Brown.
1 x Hudson XL strap by Muud in Rich Brown.
Jassy
Jassy is knitted in a DK-weight yarn and features beaded colourwork on the back of the hand, echoed by a purl texture on the palm, which creates a contrasting staggered rib fabric. While mittens are undoubtedly cosy on a cold day, they aren’t always useful when you need to use a mobile phone, so the pattern also includes instructions for fingerless mitts.
Yarn: Lalland DK by Di Gilpin in Furze (fingerless mitts) / Sea Thistle (full mittens).
Aura
Like Barin, Aura is another simply-shaped beanie, this time worked in two different fingering-weight yarns. The neon-coloured beads appear to float around the crown of the hat, which is worked in Grace Fingering, and five sets of decreases give this cute hat its shape.
Yarn: Grace Fingering by Moondrake Co in Fairy Godmother and Ultraviolet Stardust by Moondrake Co in Pastel Periwinkle.
Almo
This design plays into my love of seemingly random placement and working with plied yarns. The gauge is intentionally tighter than normal in order to create a firm fabric that enhances the bag’s tapered shape. The bag is worked in stockinette stitch with slip-stitch stripes and blocks of beaded colourwork and finished with a lining, Muud leather lid and magnetic closure.
Yarn: Scottish Yarn Festival DK in Sinclair, Wallace, Christie and Duncan.
Callie leather bag lid by Muud in Whisky.
Rosetta
This bejewelled vest brings together that touch of the unexpected with the rich autumnal tones of La Bien Aimée Corrie Worsted. Rosetta began by blending some of my favourite bead colours and then exploring what would happen if I introduced a rogue element to a simple, repeatable pattern.
Yarn: Corrie Worsted by La Bien Aimée in Rust, Coquelicot and Lise.
Learn more:
Beaded Colourwork: A Modern Approach to Knitting with Beads