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Two Ways to Knit with Beads
Curious about knitting with beads? Looking to add some bling or sparkle to your knits? As a publishing editor here at Laine, I’ve gotten to work with two talented designers on their books – and learn so much about the world of beads in the process!
Did you know there are different methods to knitting with beads? Jeanette Sloan threads beads on the yarn you’re knitting with before casting on while Pope Vergara prefers to add beads with a crochet hook as you knit your project. Let's have a closer look!
1. Threading On
Jeanette Sloan’s book, Beaded Colourwork: A Modern Approach to Knitting with Beads, is filled with colourful and contemporary knits that use beads as highlights that make them sparkle.
Jeanette’s patterns use a method she calls “threading on”. You thread all the beads you need in the pattern (or in a single section) on the working yarn with the help of a sewing needle and a spare length of thread. To do this, you need to know how many beads your project requires and thread all of those on before casting on.
If your pattern has more than one colour of beads, you’ll need to also read the beading chart to know in what order to thread the beads on. To help with this, the book has beading plans with check mark boxes to keep track of them. Then, when you are knitting, you only have to slide a bead up whenever the pattern calls for one, and just keep on knitting as usual.
Here's Jeanette explaning her technique:
2. Hooking
In Shine! Knitting with Beads, Pope Vergara’s classic and feminine knits seem made for beads – and help knitters shine in their knits.
Pope uses a classic crochet hook technique to insert beads to her knits. When using it, you begin your projects as you would any other knitting project and use a small crochet hook to add the individual beads to the stitches whenever one is needed.
Place the bead on the crochet hook, slip the stitch onto it, slip the bead over the stitch and place the stitch back on the needles and knit it. Once you’ve got the basic technique down, you can also do different variations like placing one bead onto three stitches simultaneously.
Here's a video from Pope for a closer look:
Both books have a technique section where the things you need to know are gone through in detail. If sparkly knits beckon you, don’t be afraid to give it a go. The question really is, which pattern to try first!
Have you tried knitting with beads? Share your tips!
Learn more:
Beaded Colourwork: A Modern Approach to Knitting with Beads
Shine! Knitting with Beads
