CHapter 8 How to Bead Crochet © 2014 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC K20387.indb 110 9/17/14 12:56 AM he process of making a bead crochet bracelet If you are attempting your first bead crochet piece and involves five main steps: pattern selection, stringing, would like to make the sample in large plastic beads that Tstarting, crocheting, and closing. In this chapter we is demonstrated here (and whose pattern is given at the will go through each of these steps in turn to give you the end of the section on pattern selection), you will need the skills you need to use the patterns in this book—or better following supplies: yet, to use the principles from the previous chapters to ●● 9mm plastic pony beads in five colors, about design and make your own bracelets! Even if you already 40 beads of each color. bead crochet, we hope you will find some of the tips and techniques here a useful supplement to your crafting skills. ●● Thick yarn (labeled as Aran weight, or as using a Bead crochet is a challenging skill to teach yourself, and crochet hook of size I, J, or K), preferably in white the best way to learn is to find a class at a local bead shop or a light color. You only need about 12 yards of or persuade a friend who already bead crochets to show yarn, so any ball or skein you can buy will have you the ropes. Fortunately, even if you don’t have access to enough. these opportunities, there are many resources besides this ●● A size I, J, or K crochet hook. book to help you pick it up on your own. There are numer- ●● A yarn needle with an eye small enough to fit ous demonstration videos online, including a set of sup- through the beads. You will use this for both plementary videos for Crafting Conundrums that you can stringing and closing. find through the publisher’s website (http://www. crcpress. com/product/isbn/9781466588486). There is also a lovely ●● Scissors. way to practice bead crochet at a larger scale before Because both of the authors and the majority of readers attempting to make a bracelet with seed beads (which are right handed, the photographs here demonstrate stan- generally range from 1 to 4 millimeters in diameter) and a dard right-handed crochet, in which the right hand holds tiny crochet hook. We strongly recommend that if you are the hook and makes all of the stitches while the left hand teaching yourself to bead crochet, you acquire some large holds the bracelet and thread. However, the exact same plastic craft beads, called pony beads, which are available at method can be performed in left-handed crochet. Here is most major craft stores, along with the other supplies listed how the instructions in this chapter are modified for left- below. In fact, because these larger beads are also much handed crocheters: easier to photograph clearly, most of the demonstration photos in this chapter show bead crochet with large pony ●● Stringing is precisely the same as for right-handed beads. Marian Goldstine was kind enough to take all of the crochet. If you are reading the beads off of a chart, pony-bead crochet photographs for us. you read them from left to right and bottom to Before we delve into the bracelet-making process, here top no matter which hand you crochet with. is a quick checklist of the supplies that you will need no ●● Starting, crocheting, and closing are exactly mirror matter what type of beads you are using: reversed from the techniques shown in the pho- ●● Beading needle for stringing tographs. As far as possible, we have written the instructions in a hand-neutral way, but the images ●● Downloaded by [Western Washington University] at 12:41 05 October 2017 Sewing or tapestry needle for closing will all be reversed from left to right. (Front, back, ●● Crochet hook top, and bottom stay the same.) While right-handed crochet will add beads counterclockwise (as viewed ●● Thread from the top), left-handed crochet will add beads ●● Beads clockwise, and the final bracelet will be the mirror reverse of its right-handed counterpart. ●● Scissors As we discuss the bead crochet process, we will talk about how to choose the size and type of the beads, nee- dles, string, and crochet hook. Different-sized tools and Pattern Selection materials affect the ultimate appearance of the bracelet, The most important feature of a design from a practical and selecting the thread, beads, and crochet hook size are viewpoint is its circumference. Not only will the circumfer- an important part of the creative process. ence determine how many beads you need to string and How to Bead Crochet ● 111 © 2014 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC K20387.indb 111 9/17/14 12:56 AM crochet—larger circumference, more beads—but it will also determine what kind of beads you use and impact the flexibility of the final bracelet. We have more precise infor- mation about which beads work for which circumferences in the stringing section, but the general principle is that larger circumferences require smaller beads. As a general rule, larger circumferences also create stiffer bracelets, so if you are looking for a more supple form you will do best with circumferences 7-around and under until you have a sense of how tightly you crochet with different hooks and thread types. After circumference, the next most important aspect of a bracelet pattern is the repeat length. Bracelets with shorter repeats are generally easier to string and easier to size, since you have more options for the total bracelet FIGUre 8.1 The reason sizing information is imprecise. Here are length with a short repeat than with a long one. While you three bracelets made from the same pattern by the same per- consider repeat length, it is also worth looking at the com- son with size 8 seed beads and 3mm silver rounds. Although plexity of the color sequence in a repeat; the more compli- the bracelets are the same size, they have 18, 17, and 16 pattern cated the numerical pattern and the more colors appear, repeats, respectively, because of differences in bead measure- the more you will have to concentrate to make sure you ments and crochet gauge. The pattern is a simple variation of string the beads in the right order. (There are tricks for the 4-around hexagonal tiling on p. 12, with a silver bead in the checking your stringing even for long, complex repeats, as middle of each hexagon. described in the stringing section.) The pattern pages in this book are designed to make it are officially the same size. As you can see in the photo- easy to find the circumference and repeat length of each graph, these bracelets are all roughly the same length. pattern along with suggestions about bead choices, twist However, each was made with a different number of choices, and sizing. On p. 133, we have a guide to how this repeats. The bracelet on the left and the bracelet in the information is presented on the pattern pages. middle were both made with a size 8 crochet hook on Our information on bracelet sizing is always approxi- heavy-duty topstitching thread, but because the first mate, since there are many factors that make size infor- bracelet contains smaller beads than the second, the first mation vary sharply from crafter to crafter and project bracelet uses 18 repeats while the second bracelet only to project. First of all, bead sizes are far from precise. uses 17 repeats. The bracelet in the middle and the brace- While there is a standard sizing system that is used across let on the right use exactly the same beads, but because bead manufacturers, the actual dimensions of beads of the bracelet on the right uses thicker crochet thread and a given size fluctuate between bead makers. As if that a larger size 6 hook to get a larger gauge, it uses only 16 weren’t enough of a confounding factor, how loosely or repeats to achieve the same bracelet size. Downloaded by [Western Washington University] at 12:41 05 October 2017 tightly you crochet also affects the length of your over- The best way to deal with this uncertainty is to try all bracelet, as well as the flexibility of the bead crochet some patterns with short repeat lengths and see how rope. The tightness or looseness of your crochet and the your gauge compares to ours. Then you can either adjust corresponding size of your stitches is known as the cro- our sizing notes to account for how much smaller or larger chet gauge. Finally, the sweet spot of sizing, a bracelet your stitches are than ours, or you can try to adjust your small enough to hug the wrist without slipping off, but gauge by holding your thread more loosely or tightly or by big enough to roll over the hand with gentle stretching, changing to a different hook size. In general, the larger the is actually fairly broad for most people. This means that hook, the looser the stitches. However, some people find there is a range of lengths that each person can comfort- that a smaller hook eases the struggle to push the hook ably wear. into each stitch, allowing them to keep their hands more As an illustration of why bracelet sizing is finicky, con- relaxed and loosen their stitches. If you find that your bead sider the three bracelets in Figure 8.1, which were all made crochet is especially tight, then another way to loosen it up by the same person from the same pattern in beads that that works nicely for smaller circumferences is to crochet 112 ● chapter 8 © 2014 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC K20387.indb 112 9/17/14 12:56 AM around a toothpick, as described later in the section on Stringing starting a bracelet.