The study of bead knitting history is an rather unexplored field but still a very interesting subject. Beaded knitting hasn’t been around for that long but it started to grow popularity during the 18th century and early 1900′s. The most popular items in the bead knitting history is scarves, dresses, bags and mittens. During Queen Victoria’s reign beaded knitting was very popular and it was looked upon as a very advanced and beautiful handcraft. The rich people and the house of the king enjoyed bead knitted items and of course the opinion of the queen had big influence on the people. The knitting tools and bead knitting patterns has varied during the bead knitting history and during Queen Victoria’s reign the bead knitting needles used was a lot smaller than todays needles, even the thinnest ones! A normal sized needle used for bead knitting was less than 1 mm in width. Because of the bead knitting needle’s size it allowed the stitchings to be very complex, which resulted in the most beautiful stitchings you could ever imagine and so it continued through the bead knitting history. The most popular item to knit was beaded purses. The beads themselves was applied with the very thin needle I just mentioned, but the thing is that the needle was actually a very thin and stiff wire! Beads in general have had a special place in the bead knitting history, in almost every decade during the 1900′s, following the different kinds of trends and being stitched into clothing to give that extra touch that comes with beads. Bead knitting patterns was probably first made as schematic charts which then beacame more detailed.
Thanks to the popularity and adaption of bead knitting it has made it’s way to different countries and cultures and by mixing that you will certainly get very interesting results. By using either glass, plastic, metal or stone as a raw material for your beads the possibilities outside bead knittting patterns are endless! One kind of culture in bead knitting history that really adapted the beaded knitting is the hippies. The beads could either be a part of normal clothing like sweaters and hats but also in simpler forms such as on a string around your neck, around your wrist… even in your hair! The bead knitting history offers a lot of interesting stories but it hasn’t at all ended. Today bead knitting is more popular than ever during the bead knitting history. People are bead knitting at knitting cafés, they are talking about it in bead knitting communities and learn more from bead knitting instruction DVD’s. Bead knitting is no longer a matter for rich people but for everyone with an interest for beautiful materials and a relaxing hobby! Bead knitting history is written right now!