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Bead Knitting

Bead Knitting is different from peyote and brick stitch beadwork. In bead knitting, the beads are counted and then strung onto the yarn. As the knitting progresses, a bead is brought forward and the stitch holds it in place. (Peyote and brick stitch beadwork are worked with a needle and thread. The bead is picked up with a threaded needle and secured with a "stitch.")

Reticule

This bag isn't finished yet. It still has to be lined. The pattern came from the premier issue of PieceWork ("Knitted silk reticule," March/April 1993, pp. 33-34). It was my first attempt at beaded knitting and I knitted it with what was easily available, a doubled strand of Vog pearl cotton 8 and seed beads from a crafts store (I learned the hard way that it's much easier if you have a bead needle; I broke dozens of beads trying to thread them onto the cotton) on size 1 double-pointed needles. The bag is 5 inches wide, 6.5 inches high.

Swag Bag

I made this bag for a knitlister from a pattern in one of Theresa William's Knitted Bead Pendant Bags. The thread is perle cotton 8 and the beads are dyed purple Oskadusa beads, size 11. The knitting of this bag was a piece of cake. The stringing of hundreds of beads was another matter altogether. If you decide to do a knitted bead bag in one colour, do yourself a favour. Buy them prestrung on a hank.

Celtic Bag

This bag was made for Leigh Witchel's annual Knitter's Raffle and Auction to support his dance company, Dance As Ever. I'll post a link when the auction starts. Over 2300 beads were individually strung to create this necklace bag. First, the Celtic knot design, adapted from Co Spinhoven's Charted Celtic Designs (Dover), was strung, row by row (1280 beads!), on size 40 DMC cotton and knitted in the round on size 0000 steel needles. The twisted fringe is composed of about 860 beads. The rest of the beads are in the neck chain and decorative swags (assymetric and different on each side). The height of the bag, including fringe, is approx. 4 inches (10 cm.). Width is 1.25 inches (4 cm.). Total length of neck chain is 26 inches (65 cm.). May 2000.NEW! I charted the pattern. Enjoy!
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