Bead Knitting: How to Knit Your Own Art Piece

Bead knitting is a fun and exciting experience to enjoy in life.  There’s no need for special skills, and even electricity just to make the knitting successful.  All you have to have are the right materials and tools, the design, and of course, dedication and time.

Materials and Tools Needed

To begin your bead knitting experiment, you need to prepare the right materials required for your art project.  The first thing you’ll need is the thread.

The thread needed for bead knitting may vary in type.  The most important to note then is the quality of the yarn that you are using.  After all, the beads may compliment with almost any type of fabric.  In case you are knitting your own bead necklace or bracelet, consider a thread that is more sturdy and flexible, the one that can hold your beads strongly in place.

You will also need a collection of beads.  Since you are doing bead knitting, the beads are therefore the most important material to prepare.  Today, you can select from a number of beads available on the market.  Just look for the ones that suit your style and needs.  Consider the right color, the right sizes, and the right shape.

Aside from the thread and the beads, you’ll also need the right needles.  In bead knitting you’ll require two types of needles: the stringing needle and knitting needle.  The stringing needle is important to string your beads into your fabric.  You can consider a thin wire for this purpose.  On the other hand, the knitting needle is needed for doing your knits.  You can find them even at your local bead knitting store.

How to Start?

When considering bead knitting, start by simply pre-stringing your beads into your fabric.  If you prefer to use small beads, use the beading needle to slide the beads into the string and onto your fabric.  But, the question is how to string the beads?

To avoid hassles when stringing, try putting beads into the strand in small number.  You can pick up four to five inches of beads at a particular time, or you can string even fewer than what is commonly recommended.  Once you’ve reached the end of your pre-strung beads, cut your yarn and strung another set of beads.  That’s simply it!

Once the strings of beads are prepared, then you are ready to do the bead knitting.  You can do the bead knitting in two popular ways: in order, or in chaos.  For both of these methods, all you have to do is to knit a single stitch and slide the bead over to the right needle right after the last stitch is made.  After that, proceed by knitting the next stitch.  While doing this, make sure that the beads you are stringing together do not creep their way over the stitch you’ve made.  In this case, the beads will be placed securely between the stitches.

The difference between the chaotic and orderly method of bead knitting is that in the chaotic option, you don’t pay attention to the rows and even the location of the beads.  All you have to do is to allow the beads to fall and rest wherever they may want to stay.  For obvious reasons, the chaotic way of bead knitting is much evident when you’re using larger beads.