Tips for making the most of beaded accent yarn

 knitting with beaded accent yarn to make the most
of showing every bead to fullest effect

To start Easy Elegance Mitts, you can jump right in and temporarily defer any thought for how you will introduce the beads into your knitting. So go ahead and cast on and work the first 7 rounds that only use your Main Yarn without beads. Some of the rounds use Plaited Ribbing. If you missed seeing the article on that, you can review here (or you can substitute plain k1, p1 ribbing if you prefer something simpler).

For the rounds that use beaded accent yarn, you can use either

1. beaded yarn already plied with beads

or

2. supplemental thread strung with beads that will be knitted along with the main yarn

I am going to cover these scenarios separately, as there are some different considerations to each. You can focus now on whichever applies to what you are using to make your Mitts. But don’t hesitate to read through the other scenario, as it might might be something want to try at a later time.

Tips for Using Yarn Already Plied with Beads

This method involves holding supplemental thread strung with beads together with your main project yarn. You have ultimate control over how you want your beads to be spaced, e.g. you can do every stitch (assuming you have enough beads), but do take into consideration bead size vs. stitch gauge so that if using larger beads they don’t too crowded.

Before beginning the rounds of the Easy Elegance Mitts that call for using Beaded Accent yarn, you will want to string your supplemental thread with enough beads for one of the mitts. Here are some guidelines for number of beads to string for a Mitt —

If you are using size 8/0 beads (such as those I sent out to those of you who purchased Supplies Paks for the Mitts), I like to put a bead every stitch of the Beaded Accent rounds. For each mitt, you will need 192 beads if making the first size (or 216 beads if making the larger size).

How did I calculate this? There are 6 rounds using Beaded Accent yarn. Each round as 32[36] stitches. 6 x 32[36] = 192[216] beads.

If you are incorporating larger size beads or expensive crystals, I’d advise spacing out the beads/crystals to use fewer of them. Consider only every other stitch, or maybe even every 4th stitch. Then stagger their placement on the following purl-beaded round (unless you want them to line up in a column).

Calculations for number of beads needed for a Mitt:

– if placing every other stitch: 192[216] / 2 = 96[108] beads

– if placing every 4th stitch: 192[216] / 4 = 48[54] beads

Technique for working the Beaded Accent rounds of Easy Elegance Mitts:

Hold the supplemental thread together with the main yarn as you purl each stitch. Before each stitch where you want a bead to be placed, slide a bead next to the right-hand needle before making next stitch, then purl 1 with both the supplemental thread + main yarn. Take care that the bead is not pulled through the loop while making new stitch and that bead remains on running thread between stitches to front of fabric.

It’s that easy — have fun! It might be a little slow-going to begin with, but with practice, you will go faster. I think that you will find the bling worth it.

The Beading Truth

What both methods share: Remember that beads want to go to the bumpy (i.e. purl) side.  Since Easy Elegance Mitts are worked in the round from the right-side of the fabric, that is why the design calls for purling.