Be Mine

Be Mine Beaded Knitted Flower Corsage by Meghan Jackson

What is Being Made

Be Mine is an elegant beaded flower corsage designed as wearable knitted jewelry. This advanced knitting project creates delicate floral elements adorned with Japanese seed beads, finished with a brooch pin backing for versatile wear on garments, accessories, or bags. The design allows crafters to produce multiple corsages from small yarn quantities, making it an efficient use of fingering weight yarn.

Techniques and Construction Methods

This pattern employs several specialized knitting techniques to achieve its decorative beaded effect. The beaded cast on method integrates beads directly into the foundation of the piece using the long tail casting method, where beads are slid along the yarn and positioned to touch the needle before casting on stitches. This foundational technique establishes the beaded structure from the project's beginning.

The bead placement technique uses a crochet hook method to incorporate beads throughout the knitted fabric. Beads are slid over the shaft of a crochet hook, which then hooks the next stitch from the left knitting needle, allowing beads to be integrated seamlessly into the knit structure. This method requires coordination between knitting and bead placement, making it suitable for advanced crafters.

The pattern incorporates traditional shaping and decreasing to form the flower petals and leaf components, creating dimensional floral forms from flat knitted pieces.

Stitches Used

• Knit (k) – the fundamental stitch forming the base fabric
• Purl (p) – used for textural variation and reverse stockinette elements
• Yarn over (yo) – creates decorative eyelet holes and lace-like openings within the flower design
• Knit two together (k2tog) – a right-leaning decrease used for shaping petals and leaves
• Slip, slip, knit (ssk) – a left-leaning decrease where two stitches are slipped individually knitwise before being knitted together through the back loop, providing balanced shaping
• Beaded stitch (b) – the signature technique placing individual beads within the knitted structure using the crochet hook method

Materials and Yarn Specifications

This pattern uses fingering weight yarn in small quantities, with sample corsages created from one skein each of pink and green yarn, demonstrating the project's yarn efficiency. The designer's samples showcase premium yarn choices: Fleece Artist Merino Sock and Sweet Georgia Cashsilk Lace held double for added depth and drape.

Essential notions include Size 6 Japanese seed beads for the beaded embellishment, a brooch pin for finishing, and a large eye beading needle or dental floss threader to facilitate bead threading. Construction requires 3.25 mm double pointed needles for the main knitting and a 1.25 mm crochet hook for the bead placement technique. A darning needle completes the finishing toolkit.

Difficulty Level

Rated as an advanced pattern, Be Mine requires solid foundational knitting skills and comfort with specialized techniques including bead integration, multiple decrease methods, and precise stitch manipulation. The combination of beaded cast on, mid-row bead placement via crochet hook, and shaping decreases makes this project suitable for experienced knitters seeking to expand their technical repertoire into beaded jewelry design.