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:

Using your yarn stash is important to me throughout the year, but as I start to feel the end of the year coming on I get more excited about using things I already have in the house. Maybe that’s because I don’t want to go to a store in the thick of holiday shopping times, or I like the idea of having a little space in my stash when the new year rolls around.

It’s super satisfying to use up all the little odd balls you’ve made over the year (or years), and I have several stash busting blankets I work on when it’s cold and will maybe finish someday.

If you’d like to start a stash busting project that’s perfect for using up odd balls, check out the Soukish pattern from Neisha Abdulla. This pattern is made for fingering weight/sock yarn, and it’s worked in a tube with allover color work.

This is great for a couple of reasons. You don’t really have to weave in your ends when you can hide them in a tube (this is one time you might even get by just tying a knot when you change colors!) and you can change colors whenever you run out of yarn and it will look good.

Of course the pattern is made with blocks where the designer changed colors, but you can change yours more or less often as you need to make it work for your stash. You can use blank charts to design your own color combinations, or even your own stitch patterns if you like. You can also adjust the length of the scarf as needed or turn it into a cowl based on the amount of yarn you have.

This project looks like a lot of fun and would be a great thing to have on hand to stitch up and then to wear during the cold, gloomy months.

You can get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Neisha Abdulla]

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A Scrappy Shawl Knitting Pattern to Use All Your Odd Balls

Use All Your Yarn Scraps on This Great Cardigan Knitting Pattern

Next Pattern:

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