Knitting with Beads

Knitting with Beads

Ever wondered how those beautiful sarongs and bags embedded with colorful beads are made? If you're like me and thought you could never learn to knit with beads, you will be pleasantly surprised by how easy it really is to do once you learn a few tips.

Last summer, I was captivated by the multi-colored beads in a knitting store in Santa Monica near where we were staying while my husband did a training for a week in June. My plan was to make a rainbow beaded sarong for a cover-up for the LDK Rainbow Bikinis I knit for Scarlett and Liesette.

Despite my good intentions, and the 150 delicious beads waiting for me, the instructions I found online for knitting with beads, overwhelmed me. The words just didn't make sense and there weren't any pictures to describe the new technique.

I kept procrastinating about tackling this new technique for months while the shiny beads teased me from their nest in the birchbark basket on my table.

Now 9 months later, I overcame my trepidation and figured out how to do it. The LDK Beaded Sarong is now about a fifth done with 111 beads knitted into the bottom section.

Realized other handworkers might have the same trouble I had when attempting to learn how to knit with beads. So, I started a small beach bag yesterday and photographed each stage to show how to do the technique. (See photos above.)

The trick is to first string all the beads onto your cotton yarn using a regular sewing needle with a short piece of knotted thread.

One photo shows how to attach the thread to your cotton yarn by making a loop that catches the plies of the yarn. This takes patience and a few tries, but the beads string onto the yarn easily once you get the thread attached.

String the beads onto your cotton yarn in reverse to get the pattern you want.
Notice how I strung the beads on backwards in the first photos, then had to re-string to get the pink beads on the bottom of the bag.

Once you have all the beads on your cotton yarn, pull out enough yarn to cast on your stitches and purl one row. For the sarong I strung 111 beads for 122 stitches. For the LDK Beaded String Bag, I strung 54 beads for 46 stitches, which is knit in the round with a knit row instead of a purl row between rows with added beads.

Cast on stitches. Lace pattern has 22 stitches plus 1 stitch at end of row for flat fabrics like the sarong.

Row 1 - Purl entire row. (For bag or projects knitted in the round, add 2 stitches at end of row, knit this row and all rows between knit rows with beads.

The 3rd row starts adding the beads and begins lace stitch pattern.
Row 3 - Knit 1 with bead. Yarn Over. * K 2, YO, K3 tog. S, K tog. YO, K2, YO. Repeat from * to end or row. K 1 with bead.
Row 4 – Purl entire row for flat projects. (K entire row for projects knitted in round.)
Repeat Rows 3 and 4 until all beads are knitted then continue pattern without adding beads until your project is desired length.

You can use any lace pattern. Just add beads at beginning of pattern and at end of row.

Hope you enjoy knitting with beads as much as I have.
Wish you all a life of “purposeful fulfillment” and creativity.

Charleen Touchette
www.TouchArt.net
www.OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
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Photos by Charleen Touchette 2009