How to Knit With Beads

Sometimes you just need a little sparkle. Knitwear is wonderfully flexible, versatile and comfortable--but sometimes even the most complicated stitch patterns or shiny novelty yarns just won't do the trick for the extra bit of glamor your creative soul craves. Enter beads--they come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors and are easily incorporated into many knitting patterns as is. As long as the yarn will fit through the beads and the beads aren't so sharp that they cut the fibers, any bead can be used with this technique. Hear are ways to incorporate beads with knitting.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sewing needle
• Thread
• Yarn
• Tape
• Beads
• Knitting needles

How to Thread Beads

1. 

   For beads with large enough holes, threading the beads onto the yarn with a needle is the most direct method.

2. 

   Another option, useful when doubled yarn is just too thick to fit, is to tape the end of the fiber to make a point to pass through the hole.

3. 

   When your beads come in hanks, the easiest way to transfer them from one strand to another is to tie the holding thread about 2 inches from the tip of the knitting yarn and gently pass the beads over the knot.

How to Do Beaded Knitting

4. Beaded knitting involves positioning beads between stitches. In order for the embellishments to sit on the front of the work, purl stitches should bracket each bead or string of beads.

5. 

   To place a bead, slide it up snugly next to the purl stitch that will sit to the right of the bead, then purl the next stitch--very simple!

6. 

   For loops, instead of sliding one bead into place, slide any odd number of beads into place and purl the following stitch carefully keeping the tension between the two stitches steady.

7. 

   You can gradually increase and decrease the number of beads between the stitches instead of knitting the increases and decreases to make a fluid fabric that is more beads than yarn. Alone, this is great for jewelry and evening bags or as a shapely embellishment to a larger piece of knitting.

How to Bead Knit

8. Unlike beaded knitting, this method positions the bead as part of the stitch, either on the top of the stitch or on a leg.

9. 

   To place the bead on the leg of a stitch: Knit or purl as you would normally, but once you've wrapped the yarn around the needle, move a bead into place next to the loop and push it through the stitch as you bring your needle back through. When you knit or purl on the reverse side the stitch will fall into place.

10. 

    To place the bead on the top of the stitch: On the row before you want your bead to appear, add the bead to the loop of the stitch, leaving it on top of the needle. On the wrong side, knit the stitch with the bead, placing the bead on the crossbar of the purl stitch just created in the front.

11. 

    For a fabric of beads perfect for jewelry or trim, garter stitch rows of beads (knit beads into the front stitches, set with knit stitches on the back) leaving a plain stitch at each end of the row.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to choose beads approximately the same size as your standard stitch with that yarn (or smaller) to prevent warping the fabric.
• Many glass beads have a residue of release powder inside the hole that can produce a dusty appearance when dark yarn is passed through them; rinsing should eliminate the residue.