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DIY Crochet Silver Bracelets

Contributor
By Catherine Chant
eHow Contributing Writer
(1 Ratings)

Crocheting is normally done with thread or yarn, but it can also be done with very thin wire. Through this technique you can create a silver bracelet. The bracelet can be plain and will have a mesh-like appearance, or you can string beads on the wire and work them into the crochet stitches for a beaded silver bracelet.

    Crocheting the Bracelet

  1. You will need an aluminum or steel 2.0 mm crochet hook, 28 to 36-gauge silver plated or sterling silver wire and wire nippers for the project. Don't use a plastic or wooden crochet hooks to work with wire. Plastic will likely break from the pressure needed to pull the wire loops through each other and wood can be damaged by wire scraping against it repeatedly. You may find needle nose pliers and round nose pliers helpful to have as well. To close the bracelet when it is finished, you will need a standard, two-piece jewelry clasp. Jump rings for attaching the clasp are optional, as the tail of the wire can be used to attach the clasp when the bracelet is done.

    Review basic crochet stitches for chain and single crochet before you begin. Practice with yarn before you attempt to crochet with wire if you are new to the craft. With wire, you can't easily undo a bad stitch and too much bending will break the wire, so the stitches should be perfect the first time.

    When you are ready to begin, place a slip knot of wire on the hook and create a chain just as you would do with yarn. The wire will not give as much as yarn, though, so you may find yourself having to work more slowly as the wire bends to form the shape of the stitches. The chain should be long enough to fit around your wrist. The clasp will add about half an inch to the bracelet, so don't make the chain too long.

    Single crochet in the second chain loop from the hook and in each chain stitch across. At this point you could call your bracelet complete, fasten off and attach the clasp. For a wider silver bracelet, turn, chain one and single crochet across the next row. Repeat until the bracelet is the width you want, then fasten off.
  2. Incorporating Beads

  3. If you want to include beads on your bracelet, thread them onto the wire before you begin the bracelet. When crocheting with beads, beads always appear on the wrong side of the work. So when you are working in back and forth rows, beads are used every other row so they appear on one side only.

    Start the bracelet as described in the previous section and complete one row. For the next row, when you work the single crochet stitches, hold a bead against the hook as you pull the yarn through the base stitch. When you yarn over to complete the single crochet stitch, this will catch the bead in the stitch. This is called a "bead single crochet" and abbreviated "bsc" in patterns. Repeat the bsc across the row to include a bead with every stitch. Turn and single crochet the next row without beads. Alternate rows of beads and no beads until the bracelet is as wide as you want it to be, then fasten off leaving a tail long enough for sewing.
  4. Finishing

  5. String one-half of the clasp on the tail of wire coming from the end of the bracelet and weave the end into the bracelet to secure the clasp. Put the wire through the loop on the clasp more than once for extra strength. This is where the pliers may come in handy for pulling the wire through the stitches and loops. Finish it off by trimming the wire and curling the end around a stitch in the bracelet to anchor and camouflage it.
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