Crochet Bead Friendship Bracelet

by Laura Torres | More from this Blogger

04 Apr 2006 06:04 AM

Friendship bracelets are probably one of the world's most popular crafts. This version is one of the quickest to make, and also has the added novelty of beads woven right into the bracelet.

With knitting and crochet all the rage right now, your kids will be excited to learn this simple chain crochet stitch. Even if you don't know how to knit or crochet, you'll be able to learn this yourself and teach it to your kids with no problem. It's that easy.

You will need some yarn of any thickness or fiber, a crochet hook (don't get too hung up on sizes--just find one that hooks onto your chosen yarn easily) and some beads with holes big enough to slide easily onto the yarn. Small pony beads work well. The bracelet in the picture is made of regular Red Heart acrylic yarn and plastic pony beads.

To start, unroll about 18 inches from your skein of yarn. Don't cut it--leave it attached to the skein. Now thread 15 - 20 beads on to your yarn. Err on the side of too many.

Tie a slipknot near the end of the yarn, leaving about a two-inch tail.

Slip your crochet hook through the slipknot and pull the short end of the yarn so the knot is snug, but not tight, on your crochet hook.

Now hold the crochet hook with your right hand. Bring it to the left of the yarn and then underneath. Hook the yarn and pull it through the original knot. Now do the same thing for each additional stitch, except slide a bead down close to the crochet hook before each stitch. This is hard to explain in words, but very easy in actual practice. Here is a link to a terrific how-to demonstration.

When the bracelet is almost big enough to go around your wrist, make one last stitch without a bead. Cut the end of the yarn about two inches away from the last stitch. Slide off any beads you didn't use.

Thread this end through the loop of the last stitch and pull tight. Tie the bracelet around your friend's wrist and trim the ends.

Learn more about Laura Torres

Laura Torres is the best-selling author of many books for kids and teens, and a party planner. Check out her website at lauratorres.com.

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