Category: Beads

Row Counter Bracelet

Sutherland Studios Row Counter Bracelet

Links of entry

When knitting or crocheting you must often count the rows.
I have seen people who kept checklists in a very disciplined way, but personally I find this taking-the-pen-and-sketching-a-checkmark-on-the-list bothersome, the more so as one needs a table for this (at least I need it ;-)).
But not if you’re making a row counter bracelet (ok, you must leave your work beside, but you don’t need a table ;-)).
I didn’t make one yet, but I found the tutorial very good.

I’m sure that you can make the beads yourself, e.g. from polymer clay or felt (but felted beads may be too lightweight ?!)


Links:
Row Counter Bracelet
via: Row Counter Bracelet at ravelry

Google search result for ‘row counter bracelet’
Google image search result for ‘row counter bracelet’

Here at unikatissima:
Entries with the tag ‘polymerclay’
Entries with the tag ‘felting’

Beaded Hyperbolic Planes

The Institute For Figuring Beaded Hyperbolics

Links of entry

Today again more an inspiration than an instruction, nonetheless fascinating: beaded hyperbolic planes.

And while you’re at The Institute For Figuring you must absolutely take a look at the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef!
Wow!


Links:
At The Institute For Figuring:
Beaded Hyperbolics – a wonderful gallery
Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef – ditto ;-)

PET-Inspirations

Miwa Koizumi PET project

Links of entry

I wrote several entries about crafting with plastic bottles (see links below), this one is more of an inspiration: I’d like to present the PET-project and the wonderful PET jewelry.
Fantastic, aren’t they?


Links:
PET-Project
Flower with sash

Here at unikatissima:
Knitted/Crocheted Bangles
Plastic Bottle Beads
Plastic Bottle Box
Knitting Loom from Plastic Bottle
DIY Shrinky Dinks
Box from woven PET stripes

Entries with the tag ‘plastic’

Beading Your Own Images

PerlerPal

Links of entry

Your work becomes really personal if you can use your own design.
The Palette Editor gives you the opportunity to upload your own picture and enter certain bead producers and not only to get a bead template back, but also to get the appropriate bead product numbers (or the similar).

 

unikatissima Kali tile Because I’m using mostly no name beads I can’t ‘savour’ it to the full, but the picture alone is already a great help.
For the picture at the top I simply used a tile that I had made with Kali.

 


Links:
PerlerPal Palette Editor

Here at unikatissima: Kali

Knitted/Crocheted Bangles

unikatissima Knitted Bangle
Recently I wanted to make some knitted napkin rings as a gift and looked for a way to 1. keep their shape and 2. make them washable.
And I really found a solution which is also great for making bangles ;-)): use a core of recycled plastic bottle and a knitted or crocheted all over cover.

 

That’s what you do:
unikatissima Knitted Bangle Cut rings in the desired width from a plastic bottle.
I cut here two rings because the circumference of the bottle was too small for a bangle for me.

 

unikatissima Knitted Bangle Where the rings are to be joined you need an overlap of about 2 cm.
I pricked 3 holes with a pointy needle and threaded the yarn I used later for knitting through them to fix both sides. The big advantage is that you don’t see anything of this later.

 

unikatissima Knitted Bangle Then knit the ‘cover’. I worked with quite thick acrylic yarn and began with a stocking stitch part for the inside whereas outside I used a moss stitch pattern.
Depending on the used yarn the inside diameter can get a good deal narrower, in this case make the plastic rings a little bit larger.
When the cover is finished sew the sides together.

 

unikatissima Knitted Bangle That’s how the finished bangle looks.
Originally I wanted to have the seam at the inside of the bangle but I ‘produced’ always a thick bulged seam. Therefore I knitted the ‘folding line’ between both patterns with purls and sew at the rim (which is much easier, too ;-)).
The bulged seam looks similar to the purled row and now I like it.

 

unikatissima Knitted Bangle The plastic ring core has more advantages (besides the fact that it is cost-saving): the bangle keeps its shape but is flexible so that it doesn’t interfere with writing (usually I don’t wear bangles for just this reason).

 

unikatissima Knitted Bangle What is more I can wash it: That’s how my bangle looks after I machine-washed it at 30°C together with dark(!) cloths.
No problem there ;-)
But this depends strongly from the used yarn.

 

I used thick acrylic yarn here and find that it looks like a winter bangle, but it can surely be crocheted as well with fine cotton thread or knitted in stocking stitch with variegated sock yarns or simply be wrapped with fun yarns, possibly even be wrapped with a sewn fabric cover…
If you try something like this I would appreciate if you’d link it in the comments!
Have much fun.
plastic bottle bracelet

What Can You Do With Filet Crochet/Cross Stitch Embroidery Charts?

unikatissima Two-coloured Chart (click to enlarge)

Links of entry

Recently something took me and I thought that you can use those two-coloured charts which are usually associated with filet crochet or cross stitch for a loooot of other techniques, too.
I had this idea already before, in my entries about intarsia knitting, the cross stitch heart, the beaded square stitch heart and the polymer clay letter cane.

On the photo you see some letters worked in different techniques (I’m working on letter charts at the moment ;-)):
'u' - Knit-Purl Knitting, each X is a purl stitch
'n' - Fair Isle Knitting, each X is a white stitch
'i' - Sequins Embroidery, each X is a sequin
'k' - Tapestry Crochet, each X is a white stitch
'a' - Filet Crochet, each X is a filled filet crochet square
't' - Cross Stitch Embroidery on paper, each X is a black cross stitch
'i' - Loom Beading, each X is a black bead
's' - Stamping with square stamps, each X is a black square stamp
's' - Illusion Knitting, each X is a black stitch over two rows
'i' - Crochet Yoyo’s, each X is a white crochet circle from dc’s
'm' - Inverted Filet Crochet, each X is a empty filet crochet square
'a' - Macramée/Friendship Bracelet, each X is a white knot

But then I came up with more techniques and if you still have more ideas I’d be glad if you wrote a comment about.
I added for every technique what would be a square of the chart.
Please remember: Not all ‘units’ are square so that the result can look quite different from the chart!

Knitting

Crochet

  • Tapestry Crochet – 1 stitch
  • Filet Crochet – 1 filet square (cross = filled square)
  • Inverted Filet Crochet – 1 filet square (cross = empty square)
  • Crochet Yoyo’s – 1 Crochet Yoyo, viz. a crochet circle from dc’s

Beading

Embroidery

Knotting

Weaving

Sewing

  • Patchwork/Quilting – e.g. 1 patchwork square
  • Yoyo’s – 1 Yoyo
  • Fabric Origami – 1 fabric origami square

Other

By the way I found an blog entry of an embroiderer who thought about the same subject and has more ideas.


Links:
Double Knitting
Picture for sequin embroidery (scroll down to about the middle)
Description of French Knot
Heather’s Friendship Bracelets – Alphabet Patterns
Geometric stitching
Google image search result for ‘yoyo blanket’
Google image search result for ‘ministeck’

Here at unikatissima:
Celtic Cross Stitch Generator
Heart Template (at Beaded Square Stitch Heart)

Patchwork Knitting
Bead Knitting
Illusion knit

Tapestry Crochet
Beautiful Filet Crochet Patterns

Loom Woven Bead Bracelet
Beaded Square Stitch Heart
Bead Knitting
Freeform Bead Embroidery
Bead embroidered Paisleys

Friendship Bracelet
Crazy Daisies
Crazy Daisies II

Tablet or Card Weaving

YoYo Pin
Fabric Origami

Mosaic Table Light (Glass Paint)
Polymer Clay Letter Cane
Mosaic from Plaster
Eraser Stamps

Wire Wrapped Ring

mcfarlanddesigns Wire Wrapped Ring

Links of entry

I already presented several tutorials for rings and the wire wrapped ring wire wrapped ring matches great.
I find it beautiful.

If you don’t have a ring mandrel to wrap the wire around you can possibly use the solid paper roll from the woven ring.

I’m still determined not to buy some wire, too.
We will see how long I hold out ;-)


Links:
‘Rosette’ Wire Wrapped Ring

Tutorial moved to: ‘Rosette’ Wire Wrapped Ring

Here at unikatissima:
Woven Ring for the solid paper roll
More tutorials for rings

Plastic Bottle Beads


unikatissima Plastic Bottle Beads

Links of entry

There remained some leftovers from our cut plastic bottle, from which we already made a knitting loom and a plastic box and we can use them to make some beads.
In the instruction on how to make plastic bottle beads they roll up the plastic strip and melt it together with a heat gun.
I don’t have no heat gun and I’m a little afraid of possibly developing fumes, therefore I did it in a different way:

 

unikatissima Plastic Bottle Beads Material I brought water to the boil in my craft pan (which I don’t use for food preparation anymore!).
Then I cut a stripe from the plastic bottle and rolled tightly using some tweezers.
Look out, it always try to uncoil!

 

unikatissima Plastic Bottle Beads I hold the rolled ‘bead’ with my craft wooden pliers (also not used for food preparation anymore) into the simmering water and in seconds the bead was finished.
I don’t know if I could have coloured the bead with permanent markers, I’ve forgotten to test this.
Besides the end doesn’t fuse with the bead, but it doesn’t open neither.

 

unikatissima Plastic Bottle Beads Because it always wanted to uncoil I hold it quite firm with my wooden pliers and the bead became a little flat.
Pressing it in the other direction and dipping into the simmering water again didn’t make the bead round.
But 1. I like the shape and 2. I think it’s only a matter of practice.


Links:
Plastic Bottle Beads

Making Hollow Tube Beads from Polymer Clay

Polymer Clay Central Hollow Bead

Links of entry

Ok, the title isn’t the best ever made, but the bead does look beautiful, doesn’t it? ;-)
I have it on my have-a-go-at-it-list for a long time already but it keeps being pushed down by other projects.
Now I place it back to the top ;-)


Links:
At Polymer Clay Central: Making Hollow Tube Beads