Sunday, November 20, 2011

Knitting With Sequins



I've been wanting to add sequins to my knitting for some time now.  When I began searching around for instructions, I found next to nothing!  I did find a snippet from the Knit Simple site, however their instructions were to pre-string the sequins on an auxiliary thread.  I wanted to add them with a crochet hook, like I do beads.   So, after I finally found some sequins, I began playing around to see what method of adding sequins worked best for me.

I had a hard time finding sequins at the craft stores, believe it or not.  I finally found a small bag of multicolored sequins at Michaels.  I also found a website called Cartwrights - where there are more sequins than you can imagine.  All shapes, sizes, and colors from hearts to ghosts and more!  If you are serious about knitting with sequins, then that is where you should go!

You will need a crochet hook small enough to fit through the hole in your sequins, and the yarn you use should fit as well.  If you prefer, you can use a contrasting or complimentary color of yarn that fits your sequins, and knit that along with a thicker yarn.  You could also sew the sequins on later, however that for me seems too time consuming.

Once you have your sequins, yarn and crochet hook you are ready to begin.

Knit to the stitch that you want to put the sequin on.

If working on stockinette stitch:

1: Place the sequin onto the crochet hook (upside down if using cup shaped sequins)

2: Insert the crochet hook into the stitch you want the sequin on, and pull the working yarn through the stitch - essentially you are making a knit stitch with the crochet hook

3: Now continue pulling the yarn through the sequin

4: Place the new stitch onto the left needle, and purl it together with the original stitch

Continue knitting, adding as many sequins as you like.  On the reverse row, when you come to the stitch(es) with the sequin, purl as you normally would.

If working on garter stitch:

Follow steps 1 - 3 above

4: Place the new stitch onto the left needle, and knit it together with the original stitch

Continue knitting, adding as many sequins as you like.  On the reverse row, when you come to the stitch(es) with the sequin, knit as you normally would.

If any of the sequins want to flip around to the other side of the fabric, give them a gentle tug and straighten them out on the right side.

The above is what works for me.  If you don't like this method, it isn't the only way to knit with sequins.  Play around until you find a technique that works for you.

Here is the video - I hope you find it helpful.  Enjoy!


1 comment:

  1. Okay, you've had a bad experience with your sewing machine and I've never added beads or sequins to a knitting project...I say we both walk on the wild side and make conquering these items one of our new years resolutions! :)

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