How to Make Jewelry with Bead Crochet

Crochet can be used to make beautiful afghans, baby blankets, rugs, and even sweaters. But it can also be used to make jewelry. If you're an experienced crocheter who'd like to try something new and different, check out bead crochet.

Thread suggestions
If the word "thread" makes you think of crochet cotton, that's certainly a possibility. But you can also use sewing thread-specifically, upholstery thread, which is made from 100% nylon. It's thicker, stiffer, and more slippery than other kinds of sewing thread, but it's very sturdy and won't break easily. It comes in a more limited range of colors than other types of sewing thread, but in some bead crochet techniques the thread barely shows at all.

Beads
The beads used here can be of just about any type, in sizes ranging from seed beads up to pearls or bigger. If you'd like your finished item to be more uniform, use beads of similar or equal sizes. If you'd like a more "freeform" look, variety is the key.

Seed beads in sizes 10 or 11 look really good in some designs, especially crochet ropes. However, they can be very hard to see, so you might want to try the slighter bigger size 8s (if you can find them) or even E beads. E beads are heavier, of course, but if you're making a crochet rope you won't need to use many; just three beads per round will make a piece that's about 3/4 inch in diameter.

All the beads will need to be strung on the thread before you start. If you have a particular pattern in mind, you'll have to put the beads on the thread in that order-only in reverse, since the last one strung is the first one you'll use. Once all the beads are strung, it helps to wind the thread around a spool or a cardboard bobbin to keep it from tangling.

Hooks
The best hooks to use for jewelry are steel hooks or very small regular sizes, like B or C. You'll probably want to pull your loops fairly tight to keep the beads in place, and you won't be able to do that as well with a bigger size hook.

Traditional techniques
For more traditional designs you simply make a chain that's either the width or the length of your desired piece, then use single, double, or afghan crochet, adding beads at regular or random intervals. You'll probably find that the beads will naturally slide to the back of your work, so as you work back and forth you'll have rows of plain crochet alternating with rows of beads. Of course, if you use an afghan stitch you won't see this, because you'll always be working on the same side.

Bead crochet ropes
To make crochet "ropes" you work in the round, creating a small tube out of slip stitch and working from the inside of the tube. Your beads, as you add them, will slide to the back of the work-in other words, the outside. You'll need to decide before you start how many beads you'd like per round; the smallest number is three, and the largest depends on what you're trying to make. But keep in mind that glass beads, which is what you'll probably be using, can be quite heavy, and the more you have in a round, the heavier your finished piece will be.

For example, if you want four beads in each round, you'd start by chaining four, then joining (with a slip stitch) to form a circle. Then you'd push up a bead and make a slip stitch after the bead. You'd continue in this manner for three more stitches, which would bring you back to the beginning-and the first bead you added. At this point you'd insert the crochet hook in the same loop that the bead is on, push up another bead, and make another slip stitch. Then you'd continue around-and around and around-until your piece is as long as you want it.

You'll find that the beads will displace slightly as you go up. If you're using beads that are all the same you won't notice this, but if you've never tried bead crochet before, it's best to start out with beads of at least alternating colors, if not slightly different sizes. This will make it easier to see where you are in the round. In the four-bead rope example mentioned above, if you use one black bead per round, then you'll know when you push the next black bead up that your hook should be inserted in a loop with a black bead on it. If it isn't, then either you've miscounted the beads when you were stringing them, or you've accidentally inserted your hook in the wrong place somewhere, and it's time to rip out a round or two.

A word of caution here: If you do have to rip out some of your work, and you're using upholstery thread and glass beads, hold onto your work tightly! The weight of the beads combined with the slipperiness of this thread could mean that before you know it your entire piece has unraveled, instead of just the rounds you needed to redo.

Once your piece is as long as you want it, you can finish in one of two ways. You can either pull a loop through (as you would in regular yarn crochet) and attach the end to a jump ring or clasp, or you can sew the end to the beginning, matching beads as you go.

Here are a couple of suggestions to make the process more creative:

- Try using one bead per round that's quite different, in either size, shape, or color. Because this method creates a natural spiral, the one "different" bead will seem to creep up (or down) the rope.

- Thicker thread, like crochet cotton, is more likely to show between the beads. You can use this for artistic purposes; for example, use black or another dark color thread with transparent beads.

You've probably realized by now that bead crochet is not for beginners. But if you like a challenge, and would like to make some stunning pieces that are also unique, it's definitely worth trying.