Crocheting with Beads – Nov 2019

Using beads in your crocheting can really add a sparkle and a different look to your projects—whether they are added throughout to add interest, or you create a beaded spiral. Depending on which crochet technique you use different methods apply to attaching your beads and the stitches you use.

Beaded spirals— generally use the small seed beads and involves working with thread. These make great necklaces and bracelets. This will require to pre-string all the beads onto the thread you are using—and remember if you are trying to create a ‘pattern’ string the beads in reverse order. Beads can be threaded onto the thread in a number of different ways:

Big Eye Needle

Big eye needle – These are thin, but have a large eye for the yarn that goes nearly the whole length of the needle so can cater for any thickness of yarn. Thread the yarn through the eye and use like a normal needle, picking up the beads with the point.

Beading needle – These look like a normal sewing needle but are thinner and have a smaller eye. Thread thin sewing cotton through the eye, cut it and tie the ends together to form a loop. Feed your yarn through this loop and continue as with the big eye needle.

Candle Wax — Dip the end of the yarn in some melted candle wax and shape it into a needle as the wax dries.
Working in a spiral involves securing the beads using a chain stitch only.

HINT—If you are new to creating beaded spiral, practice with a thicker yarn and plastic pony beads first. Rub beeswax onto your thread before threading beads – this keeps your thread from fraying, protects it from moisture and decay, allows your beads to slide easily and keeps your stitches tight.

Useful resources include: Beaded Beauties to crochet LA3656

Other beaded work—there is more flexibility in the way the beads are added and the type of yarn that can be used with beads and the stitches that can be used. While beads can be pre-strung as noted above, you can choose to sew them on afterwards or use a ‘bead-as-you-go’ technique. The pre-strung technique generally will not be suitable if you are using a ‘delicate’ thread that the beads can damage.

With pre-strung beads, you can secure the bead where you want it using a chain, or double crochet. If you are using a double crochet stitch, the bead naturally falls to the back of the stitch, hence you want to be adding the bead when you have the wrong side facing you. If however this is not practical, there is a modified double crochet stitch you can do to secure the bead to the front. Here is a video tutorial on attaching beads with a double crochet stitch by Kim Guzman. While other stitches can be used, these two are the most suitable to keep your bead from slipping.

The ‘join-as-you-go’ technique will require you to have a crochet hook at hand that will go through your bead in order to pull the yarn through at the point in which you wish to add a bead. For this method, you remove the working loop from your hook, place the bead onto a crochet hook that will go through the bead and pull the loop of yarn through the bead. The join-as-you-go technique is not suitable to many seed beads, hence these will generally have to be pre-strung.