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Puffs, bobbles and clusters · Intermediate

Bead stitch

Bead stitch is a double crochet (UK treble) with a puff worked round its own post. After the double crochet is made, three long loops are drawn up round it and closed, and the bundle sits on the post like a bead. Each bead takes the place of the next stitch, so one stitch is skipped after it. No beads are used.

How to work it

  1. Work a double crochet

    Every bead stitch begins with an ordinary double crochet. Published rows begin with chain 3, which counts as a double crochet, and work the double crochet of the first bead stitch into the next stitch.

  2. Draw up three loops round its post

    A double crochet has just been made, and long loops in the accent color are drawn up round its post: they pass behind the post and come up to the hook. With the loop that was already there, seven loops are on the hook. To the right, one finished bead stitch and the stitch at the edge.

    Yarn over. Pass the hook round the post of the double crochet you just made, yarn over and pull up a loop. Do this three times round the same post. There are now seven loops on the hook.

  3. Close the bead and skip a stitch

    The loops closed into a bead, in the accent color: a small bundle that starts on the post of the double crochet and slants up to its own top, the next top of the row. Under it, a ring marks the stitch of the row below that is skipped. One loop is on the hook.

    Yarn over and close the bead. Published versions do this in one of two ways: through all seven loops at once, or through the first six loops and then through the last two. Then skip the next stitch of the row below. The bead has taken its place.

  4. Repeat across the row

    Work a double crochet in the next stitch and a bead round its post, then skip a stitch, all the way across. End the row with one double crochet in the last stitch.

  5. Work a plain row

    Turn and work a plain row before the next row of beads. Most published versions use single crochet (UK double crochet) for it, and one uses half double crochet (UK half treble). Every bead stitch gets two stitches on this row: one in the top of the double crochet and one in the top of the bead.

At a glance

Used for
pieces that want a raised, textured surface
Made of
A double crochet and a puff of three loops round its post
Loops on the hook
Seven before the bead is closed
Width
Two stitches: the stitch after each bead stitch is skipped
Stitch count
An even number
Row repeat
Two rows: a row of beads and a plain row
In UK terms
A treble (tr) with the bead round its post, and a plain row of double crochet (dc)

The bead is a puff stitch worked round a post instead of into a stitch. It gives the fabric a raised, textured surface.

Because a bead stitch is two stitches wide, the row is set up on an even number of stitches, with a plain double crochet at each end.

Tips

  • Count the plain row: it should have two stitches for every bead stitch, plus the two edge stitches.

When it goes wrong

My rows are getting wider.
The stitch after a bead was not skipped. Each bead stitch is a double crochet, a bead, and one skipped stitch.
My rows are getting narrower.
The plain row is short of stitches. Work one stitch into the top of each double crochet and one into the top of each bead.

Left-handed

The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.

Questions

Does bead stitch use beads?
No. The bead is a small puff of yarn wrapped round a double crochet. Crocheting with real beads is a different technique.
How many loops are on the hook for a bead stitch?
Seven: the loop that was already there, and two for each of the three loops drawn up round the post.
Do I pull through all seven loops at once?
Both ways are in print. Some published versions pull through all seven loops. Others pull through six, then yarn over again and pull through the last two.
What goes between two rows of bead stitch?
A plain row: single crochet in most published versions, half double crochet in one.

Where to go next

Stitches

Guides