Beads placed with a hook, or with needle and thread

Machine types that can knit it

• Single bed, punch card
• Single bed, electronic
• Single bed, no patterning
• Single bed (punch card) + ribber
• Single bed (electronic) + ribber
• Double bed with pushers (Passap type)
• Double-bed hand flat (V-bed)

Steps

1. Chart the motif on squared paper or a bed chart, one square per stitch and row.
2. Knit a tension sample with beads and adjust until the bead goes on without forcing.
3. Knit plain rows to the first bead row.
4. For each bead in the row: load the bead on the hook, take the stitch off its needle, slide the bead onto the loop, hang the loop back on the same needle.
5. Push the beaded needles back to working position, check every latch is open.
6. Knit the next row slowly, watching the beads pass under the sinker plate.
7. Repeat per bead row.
8. Off the machine: store flat; for a garment, tape the shoulder and side seams.

The full card

What it looks like

Single beads sitting in the face of the fabric, each one wrapped around one stitch, so the bead sits "nested" in the knitting rather than sewn on top. Placement follows a charted motif: dots, lines, scattered sparkle or full grids. Between beads the fabric is plain stocking stitch.

How it behaves

Flat. The beads add weight, so the fabric hangs longer and narrower, and a heavily beaded area drops and can stretch.

How it works

The bead goes onto the stitch, not between stitches. Load a bead on a very fine latch hook or crochet hook. Lift the stitch off its needle with the hook, slide the bead down the hook onto the loop, then put the loop back on the same needle. The next row knits through the beaded loop, which locks the bead in. If the bead hole is too small for any hook, use a fine sewing needle with a loop of strong thread instead: thread the needle through the bead, catch the stitch in the thread loop, pull the stitch through the bead, and hang it back on the needle.

Machines

Any single-bed machine (Brother KH-821 class, Silver Reed, manual single bed). It also works on the main bed of a ribber machine, with the ribber lowered. You need a hook small enough to pass through the bead: a latch tool only works for large-holed beads; fine steel crochet hooks (about 0.6–1.0 mm) cover most seed beads [inference]. The bead must sit low enough to pass under the sinker plate when the carriage crosses; check this with one bead before planning a whole motif.

Parameters

Tension: one or two numbers looser than plain stocking stitch in the same yarn, more for larger beads: the bigger the bead, the longer the stitch has to be to go round it. Bead size: seed beads 8/0–6/0 are the usual range for 3–4 ply on a standard gauge [unverified]. Density: start sparse (a bead every 4+ stitches and 4+ rows) and judge the weight on the sample [inference].

Steps

1) Chart the motif on squared paper or a bed chart, one square per stitch and row. 2) Knit a tension sample with beads and adjust until the bead goes on without forcing. 3) Knit plain rows to the first bead row. 4) For each bead in the row: load the bead on the hook, take the stitch off its needle, slide the bead onto the loop, hang the loop back on the same needle. 5) Push the beaded needles back to working position, check every latch is open. 6) Knit the next row slowly, watching the beads pass under the sinker plate. 7) Repeat per bead row. 8) Off the machine: store flat; for a garment, tape the shoulder and side seams.

Charting

Bed chart in plain front-bed stitches, with the bead stitches marked in a contrast colour (one bead per marked cell). Note bead size and colour in a key next to the chart. Hand step: "bead on" in the row where the bead is put on.

Limits and common problems

Yarn too weak for the weight → it stretches and breaks; add a finer, stronger thread knitted together with the main yarn. Too many beads → the fabric becomes heavy, drops and breaks. Stitch too tight → the bead will not go onto the loop. Bead too high → it gets crushed or jams under the sinker plate as the carriage passes. Hook too thick → the bead will not slide over it; switch to needle and thread.

Combines with

bead-prestrung (beads between stitches); plating (a strong thread plated in the back); intarsia or stripes for coloured grounds; finishing with taped seams (machine-linking).

Pieces and assembly

Yokes, cuffs, hems and small motifs on garments; bags and accessories. Beaded pieces are heavy: keep them flat in storage, and sew woven tape into the shoulder and side seams so they hold their shape when worn.

Related techniques

• Pre-strung beads