# Lesson to learn....



## Entity

This thread is to encourage new machine knitters, like me, to be happy when we make mistakes. Why? Because if we don't make mistakes, how do we to learn? My phylosophy is the more the merrier  Here's one example...

Awhile ago, Uyvonne posted photos of her beaded purses. She inspired me to knit one. Thanks Uyvonne!

The only way I could think of knitting with beads was to thread in as many beads as possible into the yarn. Then, began to cast-on. Every other row that didn't need the beads was knitted with the carriage. The row with the beads slid in, I had to work the needles manually (without the carriage). Here's a snapshot of the work in progress.










It was very slow work but it was still quicker than hand knitting. It worked quite beautifully too! And here's the result of the finished purse...










Inside lining...










BUT Wait! There's more to the story. The lesson hasn't learned at this point.

With excitement, I sent some photos to a dear KP member. She kindly pointed out to me that I did it the wrong way. LOL, in other words, I worked too hard!

She introduced me to a new tool used for machine knitting with beads, a beading tool. By using this tool, I didn't have to thread in the beads before beginning to machine knit. It would allow me to insert the bead as I machine knit.

The beading tool that is now available to purchase looks very similar to the latch tool. The hook is much smaller and its neck is much thinner. Below is a photo of the beading tool in comparison to the latch tool.










Notice how the red beads are larger (5mm) than the copper ones on the left (3mm)? The copper beads were the ones I've used for the purse above. The red beads which have larger holes, are for machine knitting. As you can see, the beads fit well into the beading tool.

So, how is this machine knitting with beads is supposed to be done? After the beads are inserted into the beading tool, the stitch is taken off from the needle with the same tool. Then, the bead is inserted into the stitch and the stitch is hooked back to the needle. A better visual instruction is shown on this website below. This is the same website that also offers the beading tool and beads for purchasing. However, they don't carry a wide variety of beads, so shop around. http://www.sewknit.ca/knitting_beads_tools.htm

Happy beading!


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## jtkdesigns

I would really love to learn how to knit with beads.. how on earth do you put the beds on the yarn? do you keep cutting the yarn and adding beads? sorry not tooo bright here


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## Dukesy

I too knit beaded purses on my knitting machine but I use a very fine crochet hook I inherited from an aunt. Your latch hook would work much better. I will keep my eyes open for one. Thanks for the tip.


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## jtkdesigns

is there a tutorial somewhere? I would love to add some beads to my knitting


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## susieknitter

I love your purse, it's beautiful. I have done beaded sweaters and posted a pic on here of one. Although I have a beading tool I don't find it that easy to use and like Durksey I somehow find it easier with a fine crochet hook. Maybe it's because my beading tool has a lot smaller plastic handle.


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## Entity

jtkdesigns said:


> I would really love to learn how to knit with beads.. how on earth do you put the beds on the yarn? do you keep cutting the yarn and adding beads? sorry not tooo bright here


Have you looked at the website that I've posted? It shows how the beads are incorporated into machine knitting with the beading tool. I also gave step by step instruction above.

Now as for my original technique, the yarn I used was lace thin yarn and I used a sewing needle which is much thinner than a tapestry needle to thread as many beads into the yarn as I could. I had a long string of beads into the yarn before casting on. As I knitted, I had to pull the yarn by hand to pass the beads.

Since I didn't know how many beads it would take to knit the piece, halfway down, I ran out of beads. I cut off the yarn and threaded in some more beads to finish the piece. It was alot of pulling the yarn in order to have enough for knitting. That's why this technique is okay but not ideally.

If you order a beading tool, you wouln't need to do it that way. You just slide in the beads as you knit along.


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## Entity

susieknitter said:


> I love your purse, it's beautiful. I have done beaded sweaters and posted a pic on here of one. Although I have a beading tool I don't find it that easy to use and like Durksey I somehow find it easier with a fine crochet hook. Maybe it's because my beading tool has a lot smaller plastic handle.


Thanks Susie and Dukesy. Ah yes, I saw a pictorial tutorial using a small head crochet hook while googling (new verb ;o). Here it is: http://www.getknitting.com/mk_0603beading.aspx

You know, everyone has his/her own ways of doing the same thing. I do too but it's always nice to have others, like you, sharing their techniques. This way, we have more choices to adapt the technique that would work best for us. Thanks to both of you. With your shared experience, I will try both methods and see which one work best.

By the way Susie, is the head of your beading tool look the same as the one I just purchased?


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## elsienicholls

Your purse is lovely


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## theresa1

your purse is stunning!


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## roamin in the gloamin

WOW....Beautiful work - I have now added beads to the never ending list of things to get around to trying on the knitting machine - One Day


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## susieknitter

My beading tool is really old, it's only 3" long with a small red plastic handle. It has a normal hook, not a latch hook. I think that, seeing that I have arthritis in my hands, its not that easy to grip and this is why I use a crochet hook. My friend has one like yours so next time I want to knit with beads I'll see if I can borrow it. Another reason that I have used the crochet hook is that I think the proper knitting beads are quite expensive so I tend to buy breads from a local shop and the holes are probably smaller.


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## Torticollus

Wonderful job! I also use the beading tool to remove lint from the needle beds.


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## fashion

Entity, what a beautiful job you did wrong way or not I love it! And just think now you know two ways of doing it. I for sure want to try bead knitting, I just have to get the beads.

Thank you so very much for sharing. That is the wonderful thing about this group, you don't mind teaching, learning and sharing. What a good life.

Everyone please have wonderful and safe day.

WillieMae


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## themightywah

wow, wOW, WOW!!!!!! your work is amazing, I have a knitting machine and you've inspired me to get it back out and try again


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## lac

I love the purse you made. I would love to add beads to a sweater but how do you go about planning where to put them. Like how many stitches apart and or how many rows apart.


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## Entity

Thanks all for your feedbacks )



lac said:


> I love the purse you made. I would love to add beads to a sweater but how do you go about planning where to put them. Like how many stitches apart and or how many rows apart.


On the purse I posted, the side of the beads is the purl side. I added a row of beads to every other row and I added a bead to every other stitch. It really depends on how large the beads and how far apart you'd want to add the bead.

Keep in mind that beads are heavy when in abundance. It will pull down the knitted fabric. Although the purse was small, the beaded piece was still heavy. When I was sewing the lining to the beaded piece, I had to hold the piece from pulling away from the needle.

LOL, when I was knitting with beads, it looked so pretty that I was planning to make a whole tank top like that. But after the piece was completed, I realized how heavy a beaded tank top would be and changed my mind completely. I think beading for clothing at the edges wouldn't be as bad and will upgrade the piece.


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## Entity

susieknitter said:


> My beading tool is really old, it's only 3" long with a small red plastic handle. It has a normal hook, not a latch hook. I think that, seeing that I have arthritis in my hands, its not that easy to grip and this is why I use a crochet hook. My friend has one like yours so next time I want to knit with beads I'll see if I can borrow it. Another reason that I have used the crochet hook is that I think the proper knitting beads are quite expensive so I tend to buy breads from a local shop and the holes are probably smaller.


Susie, you may want to check out at your local hardware store if they carry rubber handles for tools. It's hollow and you can see if the hole is big enough for you to insert your beading tool handle for easy use. Here're a few places that carry them online:

http://www.estcoenterprises.com/parts/rubber-grips.html
http://www.customrubbercorp.com/p_handle.htm
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BKV4D0/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2/188-6548006-7840312?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_r=1EG66P3ZJSFZJZTXFQVP&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_i=B0030QF164


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## crecol71

Wow!! that is super work. Wish I had the patience. I'd love it for evenings out.


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## knittingmania

Hello Entity,
I just love your purse!!!Where did you purchase the closure "or" the frame?Hope it works,will try posting one I made and you let me know what you think.Great job!!!Please post pattern!Thanks!
Violet


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## Entity

Thanks Violet. Your purse is beautiful too! Very nice work.

Yes, those are called purse frames. I got it from Etsy.com. Here's the vendor: http://www.etsy.com/shop/bagpurseframes. When buying purse frames, note that some purse frames are sewn in instead of glued.

I made purchases from 2 vendors on the same day, 1 from mainland China and this one from Hong Kong. Both vendors notified that due to the Chinese New Year, the order can take up to 40 days to arrive. The order from Hong Kong arrived about 2 1/2 weeks later. Whereas, I'm still waiting for the order from China. It has been more than 1 month now. There are other vendors from the US on Etsy but their prices are a bit higher. If their product were from US, I'd pay the price but they're not. They're all come from China, so why paying more for the same thing.

As for the pattern, it's just a rectangular piece knitted in stockinette stitch. The piece is folded in half and sewed on the side. The lining is about the same size and was sewn at the top together with the beaded piece. Than glued into the frame with E-6000. E-6000 (sold at craft shops) is a permanent adhesive. It works well on both metal and fabric and it's waterproof as well.

As for how big, it all depends on what's the size of the frame you chose and how big you want the purse to be. It's almost redudant to write down a detailed pattern for this purse if the exact same size frame is not used or cannot be purchased.


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## angijt

that is lovely and finished so beutifully too.
i wish i could work so neatly.


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## crafty lady UK

Thank you so much both of you for all the info. I have never tried anything like beading on a knitting machine. I will have to have a go now!


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## Entity

I'm glad to pass on what I've learned as others had done for me unselfishly in the past. 

I'd suggest to use a yarn that doesn't stretch as much such as cotton or nylon yarn. You wouldn't want a purse that stretches unevenly when you stuff it up. This is also best to make lining for the purse. It minimizes the stretching and easy to clean.

Update on this beaded purse: My sister insisted on seeing it in person. She loved it so much that it became her gift.


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## fashion

Good advice, so glad your sister loved the bag.

Enjoy your evening,

fashion


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## Grandma Jan

Your purse is just gorgeous! I can't wait till I'm no longer afraid of my knitting machine.....


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## Entity

fashion said:


> Good advice, so glad your sister loved the bag.
> 
> Enjoy your evening,
> 
> fashion


Thanks.



Grandma Jan said:


> Your purse is just gorgeous! I can't wait till I'm no longer afraid of my knitting machine.....


I'm comfortable with machine knitting now but I _am_ still afraid of the knitting machine. No matter how careful I watch where my hands and fingers land, it still scratches me. I don't know about other machine knitters but I've been using up band-aids by the box since I've started machine knitting. I'm wearing one right now on my left hand. LOL, it sure is one _lean mean_ knitting machine!


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## fashion

Entity, what knitting machine do you have? Let us know so we can stay away from it (LOL). Maybe you should wear gloves.

fashion


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## Entity

Well... I don't think the model of my KM would make any difference. The needles are the lean & mean parts of the machine and all Brother standard gauge pretty much share the same needles. 

Mine is the KH-965. You have a Bond, right? Well, needles are needles and they're all the same, mean! LOL...


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## romamor

wowow~~you make me wow again


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## hobbyknitter

That is a nice purse. There is more than one way to add beads when knitting, either on machine or by hand. Just search 'machine knit beads' and you will find sites that show an easier way than to have to buy a special tool for this technique.


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## sross512004

I don't know if this will "bump up" or not, but I thought you might get a kick out of this.... I didn't know this page was here, so I googled machine knitting with beads - and this page was the second item listed in the whole search, pretty cool, huh?


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## Entity

sross512004 said:


> I don't know if this will "bump up" or not, but I thought you might get a kick out of this.... I didn't know this page was here, so I googled machine knitting with beads - and this page was the second item listed in the whole search, pretty cool, huh?


That's good to know :mrgreen:

Here's additional information. Sock knitting machines tend to have smaller needles which are like latched hooks. I was given some of these needles and they were much smaller than the typical beading tool. I inserted one on a pin vise and I'm able to use smaller beads for machine knitting. Ocasionally, I've seen them sold on eBay. You can also check some retailers for these needles. Here's a snapshot of the different sizes latch hook tools/needles.


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## showperson

Your technique allowed you to use beads with a smaller hole. Your technique was not wrong, just different. Beautiful job on the knitting and the lining of your purse.


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## Entity

showperson said:


> Your technique allowed you to use beads with a smaller hole. Your technique was not wrong, just different. Beautiful job on the knitting and the lining of your purse.


Thank you. I now realized that too, it's good to know various methods.


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## tpmcgoo2

love your purse Entity!! also really appreciate that you told us that you are afraid of your machine. I am too!! It sits there waiting for the yarn I bought to be used for the wonderful creations I want to make...once I get started I do fine but I have such trouble starting. funny huh? I am trying to get up the nerve to try a different machine I have...shouldn't be any problem..it is a brother also but I have not used it. I replaced the sponge bar months ago and have it set up but it waits. I have got to just do it! What is wrong with me!!


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## Igueza

Hi, can you tell me where you bought those latch tools for beading? Thank you


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## KateWood

Love the purse


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## HKelley350

Beautiful beading work! I've only done a bit of beading work once on a fountain pen caddy, but nothing as detailed as this. Used a very small latch tool & the KnitSmart knitter.


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## GrammaAnn

jtkdesigns said:


> is there a tutorial somewhere? I would love to add some beads to my knitting


Entity, you always do beautiful hand manipulating! I have used a little different method to add a few beads to my machine knitting. I have a tutorial on my blog in Machine Knitting Techniques (above blog title). Blog address at the bottom of this post.  Ann


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## tyger777

Hi I love your bag great work


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## Entity

Thanks everyone. Here's an advise, never show off projects that you intend to keep it for yourself  . I showed off this purse to my sister, she ended up keeping it.



Igueza said:


> Hi, can you tell me where you bought those latch tools for beading? Thank you


You're in "hiding", no knowledge of where you are (US, UK, etc.). In the US, you can purchase a beading tool for machine knitting from Susan Guagliumi. Here's the link: http://www.guagliumi.com/tools/standard.html It's $16 USD + shipping. I believe she will also ship to wherever you are. Just send her an email to get a quote for shipping cost.


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