Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Crocheting with Beads: January 8 Meeting Preview

Our next meeting will be held on Saturday, January 8th at 2:30pm in the meeting room at Borealis Yarns, 1340 Thomas Avenue in St. Paul. Here's what we have planned:
  • Maxine will show us several techniques for crocheting with beads. Then everyone will get a chance to practice these techniques on one or more projects such as bracelets, necklaces, small bags, or coasters.
  • Finalize plans for our January "fifth Saturday" (Sat, Jan. 29) excursion to the Midtown Global Market on Lake Street in Minneapolis.
  • And, of course, share our latest projects!
Instructions for the crochet beading projects will be provided at the meeting but you'll need to bring the following supplies:
  • One or two ounces of size 5 crochet thread OR 1/8" wide ribbon yarn
  • Size F-5 (3.75mm) crochet hook
  • Some beads with a hole large enough for the thread or ribbon to fit through - the beads used in the sample projects are labeled as size 6/0 in the bead store where they were purchased
  • A tapestry needle that is small enough to use for stringing beads on the thread or ribbon
  • Note: You can use a different sized yarn and hook if desired, just make sure that the beads you've chosen have a large enough hole for stringing.
Ribbon yarn can be purchased at Borealis, but Maxine will be bringing some to share that was purchased in October at the Color Crossing outing. The beads in this illustration were labeled 20mm and are larger than the most popular size of seed beads and smaller than pony beads. Since one of the crochet beading techniques involves stringing the beads on the yarn before crocheting, you might want to bring along a small paper plate to catch stray beads and ease the process.