How To: Stringing Beads For Your Knitting!

YouTube and Instructables are invaluable sources for people who need a visual, rather than just a read and do.

Here’s one for knitting with beads that you’ve already pre-strung: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2-YbLvyNCY and another, more in detail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8ib6nyWKQg

But that’s not how I do it. Because I’m backwards, usually reserving “how it’s supposed to be done” for after all else has failed. Yup, I’m a read the instructions last kind of gal.

I don’t pre-string my beads, preferring instead to use a crochet hook and snag the stitch off of the left needle before knitting it, then feeding the bead from the crochet hook onto the stitch, returning it to the left hand needle to be knit as normal. So, the individual yarns aren’t strung through the bead, but the stitch is. Hard to explain, probably impossible to grasp with the way I explained it, so I looked for someone else that would maybe be able to explain this a bit better. And who came to my rescue? Clara Parkes of Knitter’s Review has a wonderful explanation for her “stringing as you go” method.

If spending 30 minutes stringing tiny beads onto yarn doesn’t excite you, fear not. There is another technique that allows you to add the beads as you go.

You’ll need an extremely fine crochet hook — one so fine that the tip will fit through the hole in your bead. Knit until you reach the stitch where you’d like to add the bead.
Pick up the crochet hook, slide one bead onto it, and use it to snag the stitch in question off your left knitting needle.
Slide the bead down from the crochet hook deep onto the yarn loop, then place the loop back on your knitting needle.
The bead is now in place and you can continue knitting.
The major benefit of this technique is that your bead is held very securely. The drawback is that your bead will be positioned vertically in your work, rather than horizontally.

Thanks, Clara, for your wonderful explanation!

Next Pattern:

You probably know by now if you’re a regular reader (and if you’re not, welcome!) that I love a knitting pattern that’s a little silly or a little different from the usual. Classic patterns are great, too, but sometimes you just want to make something with a bit of whimsy. And when it’s super functional, too, that’s even better.

That’s the case with the Bananen-Socken pattern from Susanne Shahin. These banana socks are one of those patterns no one seems to be totally sure where it came from, and this free pattern on Ravelry explains how she makes them based on how she learned it.

It’s a sock that’s curved and when not on a foot it looks rather like a banana. There’s no heel, and you can use whatever number of stitches you need to make it fit your foot. If you’ve knit enough socks to know how many stitches you like you can just use that number, or the pattern notes include sizing charts to help. (It needs to be multiples of 2 for the ribbing.)

After working a traditional cuff, the body is made with ribbing on the back and welts (or what the pattern calls horizontal ribbing) on the front, which is what gives it the curved shape. There’s no heel, but there is toe shaping, but for the leg and the foot you just keep working the same pattern as long as you like.

I’m a little skeptical about how these socks will feel with ribbing on the bottom of the foot, but I’m definitely intrigued and will probably give them a try.

The pattern notes are available on Ravelry in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. If you head to the pattern page you can see a photo of what it looks like on a foot, and it just looks like a normal sock.

Have you ever knit banana socks or do you want to now? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Susanne Shahin]

Next Pattern:

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