Beaded Knitting

I don't have many of the beaded knit purses I have done on display, in this blog, but I did put up a couple. Most I gave away without remembering to take pictures first.

This is the kind of knitting I am talking about:




Today I want to talk a little about doing beaded knitting. The reason why today is because of a video I watched in the last hour. People say oh that is so beautiful, it must have been hard to do. I say thanks but no it wasn't hard at all. The hardest part is the stringing of all the beads. The rest is simple knitting and in some cases purling. What can be harder. You string the beads, you use the knit stitch (or purl) and you pull up beads as you knit. Those beads sit on the strand between stitches. Not hard at all if you know how to knit. Still even when I tell people it is not hard they don't believe me. They say something like, well maybe for you it isn't but for me I could never do it.

Now those little purses pictured here are needle knitted. To date I have not found a knitting loom with a small enough gauge between the pegs to do these same little purses with thread and seed beads, but you never know what the future can bring. I keep a watch for something to come along.

In the meantime, there are other larger beads that can be used to add a little something extra to your loom knitted projects. For instance beads in the brim of a hat, or all through the hat if that is your choice. Beads for the bottom of a sweater or tank top to add that additional flair that will set you out in a crowd.

If you should think that you would love to knit some of the tiny beaded bags, like you needed another stash of goods (well why not), then you should check out this video that I watched. Cat shows you just how easy it is to do beaded knitting. It is a wonderful addition to the world of learning and it is here:
Let's Knit 2gether

While you are visiting here check out some of her other videos. The one on spinning is really great.

The video shows stringing the beads one at a time for the little project that she is doing the demo on but with some of the beaded knitted bags you might consider a bead spinner. There are spinners for sale but if you have someone who can help or you can do it yourself, you can make a quite nice spinner with little expense. Check out my March 2006 archives to see the bead spinners my husband made for me. Oh can I get those beads on the thread fast now.

I wanted to add that my favorite beads are not all that expensive when purchased in bulk. I have bought a lot of them from here:
Mill Hill Beads

By going online you can find beads for much better prices then you get by going to most local stores.