If you want to be very exact you will find as many bead knitting styles as there are people who bead knit, whether they follow bead knitting patterns or not. The knitting style is very individual but here I will talk about general bead knitting styles. The two most common bead knitting styles are beaded knitting and bead knitting. You could say that these are the only techniques but to make a stitch work with beads you can of course “cheat” and sew the beads on afterwards. To decorate your stitch work even more you may discover that there is a wide range of bead fringes to purchase and machine stitch in place after you’ve finished the knitting part. The main bead knitting styles result in very different stitch works and if you compare them you will find that both has their advantages and disadvantages. But there are also similarities. In the next two articles; “Beaded knitting” and “Bead knitting” I will explain these bead knitting styles.
Your bead knitting patterns will show you where the beads should be placed, no matter which of the bead knitting styles you use, but maybe not how to get them there. The two main approaches are “Threaded on in advance” and “Threaded as it is knitted”. The first, which is the most used in bead knitting styles, means that you string the beads on the yarn in advance, before starting to knit. When a bead should be put on, you bring the yarn to the front of the work so that the bead doesn’t get on the wrong side. To get the bead into the stitch work you can use different methods like to use a crochet hook, to put the bead on the stitch, to put the bead over a slip stitch or to put the bead between the stitches. You may find this information useful for different bead knitting styles.
Beads with crochet hook
When you are about to add a bead you just slip it onto the stitch you are knitting with the crochet hook. Then you put the stitch on the left needle again. The crochet hook is indeed a very helpful tool for all bead knitting styles!
Beads between stitches
Here the beads almost melt into the stitch work and together they form a smooth and beautiful unit. The bead is put between to bights and then onto the stitches.
Beads over slip stitch
This bead knitting style is a fast one since you don’t put so many beads onto the stitch work at once. The bead is visible on one of the sides of your item. Since you can only slip one stitch one time, the beads will not be placed in straight rows. On bead knitting patterns you can see what it will look like.
Beads on stitch
You use a pre-strung bead and this is the method in which you have to make sure the bead gets on the front side of your work. Another important thing is that if you don’t put the bead on the back loop it will not be fastened in its place. This may be a bit difficult at first but practice will make you feel confident enough to use this method as much as the others.
The second bead knitting style means that you put the beads individually onto your work while knitting using a needle. You put the bead onto the bight, that is the loop of yarn before knitted. When you use the knitting style “Threaded as it is knitted” the beads will be visible from both sides of the stitch work. Something you must have in mind before starting to knit by this knitting style is that the beads must be larger than usual because the you must be able to pull the yarn double folded (two strands of yarn) through the hole of the bead. Using a type of stitch called elongated stitch has proven helpful in this case. You just pull the strand of yarn more than once around the needle before pulling the stitch of the other needle. There are of course more bead knitting styles but these are the most common ones which you’re most likely to find in bead knitting patterns.