I love beaded knitting because in almost no more time than I spend on a regular knitting, I can make something much more. You won’t know what a handful of glittering beads in soft pastels will do for you knitting until you try beaded knitting! I promise you won’t be disappointed. Do you think that you can’t spare the time required? Don’t worry, if you use a knitting machine you can still knit with beads and follow bead knitting patterns. For the machines there are a lot of extra tools to purchase but in this case you can use the ordinary knitting hook. Just knit a row and then put the beads on the knitting hook as you continue knitting the rows. In beaded knitting the beads are put between the stitches. The pattern is composed by varying the number of stitches and rows between the beads.
As you can read in the previous articles, different beaded knitting techniques places the beads in straight or diagonal lines and in different degrees embedded in the knitted fabric or on the surface, all according to bead knitting patterns. In beaded knitting the most common stitch to use is garter stitch. This is the most basic knitting pattern there is and is probably the first one you learn when you begin your knitting career. Simply cast some stitches and then knit every row! In beaded knitting you slide one or more pre-strung beads from the yarn to the knitting and the continue to knit. If you purl both the stitches that follows the bead, the bead will end up on the front of your work. If you instead knit the two following stitches the beads will sit on the back of your knitted item.
If you slid more than, lets say three, beads between the stitches at at time, the beads will hang on the yarn of the beaded knitting, weigh it down and create a little arc. This can make a very ornate impression, especially if the arcs are composes by beads in different colors and also if, for example, one arc is made of four beads, the next arc of six and the following of four beads again. As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, the procedure and methodology in beaded knitting differs from the ones in bead knitting. One advantage that comes with beaded knitting compared to bead knitting is that it is much less time demanding; a beaded knitting of the total size of a square foot or less shouldn’t take more than a few hours to knit, if you follow bead knitting patterns. That is, if you have some experience and don’t have to think some much about the ordinary knitting stitches. Beaded knitting is also easier and contains less complicated steps in the process. The result gives a lighter feeling both concerning the surface and pattern and also the actual weight. The knitted fabric will be smoother and, if you use a fine yarn, almost fluid to the skin. I hope that this text has given you some inspiration about beaded knitting and that you’re eager to learn more!