Not only knitting can include beads, also in crocheting you can add small sparkling pieces of glass or some other material. This both makes the crocheting more fun as well as gives the finished item a whole new look. Crocheting with beads is different from bead knitting and beaded knitting regarding some aspects. But just as there are bead knitting patterns, there are bead crochet patterns, (read more about this further down in this article) so you never have to feel lost. If you are an advanced bead knitter, or at least have some experience, you may find a pleasant change in trying some crocheting with beads for a change. And the other way around, if you’ve crocheting with beads for a while, try buying some bead knitting patterns instead and see where it takes you! Crocheting with beads is less common than bead knitting when creating clothes and bigger items. It’s more common for smaller decorative things where beaded crochet jewelry is the biggest field. Other items you can do by crocheting with beads are small toy animals, caps, mittens or decorative pastries like muffins (though inedible!)
Have you ever heard the word “Amigurumi”? If you have, congratulations, you keep up to date in fabric and crafts related topics! If not, you’re one of many. Amigurumi are small toy or decoration animals which you create primarily by crocheting and more rarely by knitting. The crocheting should be firm and tight (use a smaller needle than is recommended for the yarn) and preferably in different colors to make a happy impression! Crocheting with beads is very suitable for making amigurumi. The animals are rather small so they don’t demand too much of an effort to make, and the beads will make them look very sweet. You can choose to put the beads only at specific spots, such as the eyes of the animal, or to put them more randomly over the whole body of the animal. These lovely little things are fantasy figures and can thus look just as you want, only your imagination and skills in crocheting with beads are the limits!
Beaded crochet jewelry
Beaded crochet jewelry is probably the most common item when it comes to crocheting with beads. Some of the most popular pieces of crocheted jewelry is beaded crochet necklace, beaded crochet bracelet and bead crochet rope (the latter is a specific type of necklace or bracelet). You can choose either to bead crochet with cotton thread or to bead crochet with wire, you’ll get very beautiful results whatever you chose and both kinds of thread materials are about the same easy to use in crocheting with beads. When bead crocheting with wire, use protective gloves not to hurt your fingers. A common variant of beaded crochet necklace looks like a crocheted strip which widens at the bottom and gets thinner in the neck where you attach it. The beads are put on the wider part. Beaded crochet bracelets use to be the same width all around since they don’t have to be held in place the same way as beaded crochet necklaces do. Both beaded crochet necklaces and beaded crochet bracelets can have different forms. The most common forms are flat and “rope”-form which is three dimensional and round (just like a rope). When you create a bead crochet rope, it’s a bit harder to have control over all the beads and colors than if you crochet flat necklaces and bracelets. Use an instructive bead crochet pattern and divide the beads into sections which you work with one at a time.
Bead crochet pattern
As I mentioned in the beginning, there are bead crochet patterns available to help and guide you through a project, from the first hesitantly grips of the needles to the relieved sigh when you’ve finished your first item by crocheting with beads. You can learn how to bead crochet by using different methods. You can easily get bead crochet instructions on the Internet, there are both written instructions and videos with bead crochet tutorials, some of them can even be played in extreme slow motion so you see exactly what is being done. Very helpful indeed! Of course there are books filled with bead crochet patterns just as there are books with bead knitting patterns, buy one or loan at a public library. Some magazine publish smaller bead crochet patterns along with the regular edition, look for magazines related to knitting or sewing clothes and if you’re lucky you may find just what you need and want. Another good tip for getting hold on bead crochet patterns and get bead crochet instructions, is to ask your friends and acquaintances. To actually see another person bead crochet in front of you is probably the best way to learn how to bead crochet. You can tell the person to explain the different steps and repeat things you didn’t get the first time. Otherwise you can ask the people who work at yarn shops for help, they are often able to give you some good piece of advice!