Itty Bitty Beads

Photos in a minute.  First... remember my friend, Lynne, who was the inspiration for these booties?  She started a blog!  You have to go check out her gorgeous socks. She has a great eye for color.  Congrats on your bouncing baby blog, Lynne!

I promised progress photos of the beaded change purse.  The kit came with a hank of size 11 beads, pearl cotton and the clasp:

First order of business is getting the beads from the hank on to the pearl cotton.  This is done by gently pulling one end of a strand of beads out of the hank.  Start tying a knot in the thread at the end of the strand but don't pull it yet.  Slide the end of the pearl cotton through it until there are about 5" past the knot.  Thank God for digital cameras because I'm obviously horrible at explaining things like this (click on the photo for a clearer view):

Then you pull the knot closed and start CAREFULLY sliding the beads from the thread to the pearl cotton:

After sliding the beads on to the pearl cotton I slide them little by little down the length of it till I have a strand with no beads so I can start knitting.  I wind the beads around a paper towel tube (you can see this in the last photo) to help keep them from getting tangled.  Every now and then I have to slide them all down again to have a blank piece of cotton to knit with. 

Knitting the beads in is the easy part.  Actually being able to **see** the beads is the hard part.  All you do is slide the correct number of beads (per the pattern) in between two stitches.  From here I would just knit the next stitch. 

Here's how far I was last night about an hour into pulling the kit out of the bag:

Here's how far I got last night before I went to bed:

I'll post again when I have it finished.

Comments

[froggy]

that is just too cool! what a fantastic project.

[Rose]

Wow - I love the beads. Thanks for the progress photos on how to get the beads on. I always wondered how that was done. I'm going to have to add a beading project to my ever growing list of projects. (lol) - Rose

[Annie]

The purse looks great! And, I love the pics of your boys with "Santa". We have the same rule in our house about Santa's gifts. I love the time that they actually believe in the magic of Santa. So sweet. Merry Christmas, Jean!

[monica]

You're much braver than I am tackling black beads. It will look beautiful when you're done!

[Eva Shiu]

Hi Jean, thnaks for posting the pics. I never knit with beads but need to do so very soon (for socks). The pics is very helpful for me. Looking forward to see the FO comes out !

[Kim]

Jean.....I LOVE that bag!! Oh how I would love to make one, but somehow, I don't know that I would have the patience or the eyesight for it. It is fabulous though!!!! Maybe I could teach one of my daughters how to make one..hehe

[Tracy]

Wow, that looks gorgeous and makes it really special. I think I may have to give it a go sometime.

[Jean]

The kit is available from purseparadise.com. The one I'm doing is the Elaine.

[Lynn]

Oh what an excellent way of getting the beads on! I've got a book of beaded bags, but the thought of stringing all of those teeny beads is daunting. Thanks for the tip!

[Mim]

May I ask where you got that kit? It's gorgeous! I would really like to make one, even though I don't carry purses, but I just love owning beautiful things. :) Or if you know where to get that pattern I could find the materials on my own. Thanks for any help. Miriam