My lifestyle as a stay-at-home mother tends toward the half-finished: books, conversations with adults, cleaning jobs, P B and J’s, emails, cups of tea, and lots of crochet projects. I have tons of ideas, which is great until I’m bored when the blanket I’m working on is only the size of a long scarf.

One day, while flipping through a book of vintage crochet patterns, I found the solution to my short attention-span: I could make lace trim for my clothing! Oh, but then I'd have to sew it all on and measure it and stuff. Hmm. But I could make a necklace out of it. Yeah! And I can play with beads! And! And! And!

So the lace trim necklace was born. Attention deficit + vintage patterns = a good time. Since then, I have made several necklaces and bracelets for friends, and one for myself that matches most of the things in my closet.

The necklaces can be as complicated or as straightforward as you like. Want to finish in an afternoon? Skip the beads and focus on a nice thread color. Want something to make a simple outfit look more elegant? Add some shine with seed beads. Want a necklace that costs less than 10 bucks? You got it.

Getting Started

I have several sources of inspiration: a book of really smashing trim patterns, a lovely skein of hand-painted yarn screaming to be shown off, an outfit in need of the perfect accessory, or just thoughts of a friend and the colors they love.

Once you are inspired, then you have to think about the other variables: Do I want to add beads? Do I want something light and airy, or a more substantial fabric? Do I have all the materials needed?

Materials

• A lace trim pattern. Very helpful, no? See below for some of my sources. The books may not say, “Lace Trim right here!” Look closely for pillowcase edgings, dish towel trims, even insertion patterns (lacy bits sewn between pieces of fabric). Anything for decorating the edges of things will do.


• One ball of crochet thread (cotton, mohair, silk). Or 4 little skeins of embroidery floss of the same color . Since the necklaces take up a relatively small amount of yarn, you can splurge on something exotic or use some spare doily-making thread. Remember: This will be on someone’s bare neck. Avoid scratchy stuff.


• Steel crochet hooks. From super tiny to size C or D


• Embroidery needle


• Scissors


• Clasps: toggles or lobster-claw are best. Avoid using screw-closures, as they may twist the necklace. You could also skip the clasps and make the necklace long enough to go over your head.


• For beaded necklaces, beads that fit your thread (larger seed beads work well), and a bead-threading needle.

Test-Driving Your Trim

After you have chosen a pattern and have your materials ready, you should make a test piece just to see what the pattern is like. I usually live on the edge (oh, the trim puns!) and start right in with the yarn, clasps and beads and all. Kind of like Luke using the Force. I would not recommend this course of action if you don’t like ripping out all your stitches a few times. A test piece will give you a much more concrete understanding of the pattern’s structure. You could even turn this test piece into a bracelet!

For your test piece, work with the thread you’ll be using for the final product. Make your starting chain long enough to accommodate a few repeats of the pattern. Think about the following as you work:

• Does the lace curl in places? For example, picots—3 chains forming a mini-loop--are notoriously curly.


• Are there clusters or large masses of stitches? Is it fine and made of mostly chain stitches?


• Does the type of thread you have show off the pattern well? If it’s too fuzzy or your hook is too big, the pattern becomes indistinct.

If you are planning to add beads to the pattern, you should consider where the beads would look best. Good places for beads are:

• Picots. Beads usually add weight to flatten curly bits.


• The foundation chain. Beads make a nice stiff beginning. This will be a bit of a pain to crochet into, but it looks nice.


• Border areas.


• Short stitches or chain stitches. Beads in a triple crochet look lost and forlorn.

Straight Lace: The Bead-Free Option

When you’re comfortable with the inner workings of your pattern, you can get started on the necklace. Here are the steps for a plain necklace:

1. Thread the claw clasp onto your yarn, and slide it down a few inches.


2. Leaving a longish tail, make your slipknot and slide the clasp up to the knot. Make a chain stitch over it. Et voila! One clasp attached.


3. Continue your foundation chain until it is the length you want. Add more length if you want more drape to the piece, but really long necklaces will bunch up at the middle and won’t lay flat. You’ll look like you got in a fight with your pillowcase and the trim won. If your chosen lace pattern requires a certain number of stitches, make sure your foundation chain contains the right number.


4. Once you have the right length, use a super-small crochet hook to pull the yarn through the mate of the lobster clasp, and make one or two single crochets around that to make a secure attachment.


5. Follow the directions for your lace pattern, and don’t worry if you have one or two extra chains at the clasp ends. Bind off, leaving a longish tail.


6. Weave the tails of your yarn into the extra chains, pull them tightly, and poke your needle back through the clasp loop to reinforce the attachment. Weave some more into the backs of stitches. Those extra chains will get scrunched into oblivion.


7. Weave any other loose ends into the backside of the stitches.

Beaded lace

If you have never crocheted with beads before, this is a nice small project to learn the skill. Check out a previous Crochet Me article for specific directions on how to crochet with beads. Be forewarned: stringing the beads is a pain, and crocheting with them is a juggling act. Don’t expect the Zen-like calm you may normally experience while crocheting. Your necklace will look so great when you’re done, though, and it doesn’t take long to get used to the beading stitches.

Here’s how to do it:

• Thread enough beads and then some, for what you think you will need. If you want to bead a lot of the stitches, thread on at least 3 times the length of your necklace’s worth of beads. It is better to overkill on the beadage than get to nearly the end and find you don’t have enough. Ever try to thread beads on the back end of a ball of yarn? Not fun.


• If you want to add different beads as an accent to certain parts of the lace, you’ll have to have all that figured out before you thread the beads. For example, if I wanted to add a larger accent bead to the stitch that attaches two chains, I would have to string up the correct number of beads for the chain, then the accent bead, then another correct number for chains, then an accent bead. This method is much less forgiving than a random- or one-color assortment of beads. Be sure to really know your lace pattern inside out before you try it.


• After you thread all your beads, thread your lobster clasp as before, and chain that sucker in place.


• Follow your lace pattern. Don’t forget the second clasp! Add beads as you get to the areas where you've determined they should live. Remember which side will be the front of your necklace, so that if you turn your work, you can use a different beading stitch to make the bead appear on the correct side. If you easily forget where you wanted to put the beads, use a highlighter on your pattern to accent the stitches where you want them.


• Crochet takes up a lot of yarn. If you know you’re coming up to a big section of the necklace where you don’t need beads, spend a minute sliding the beads a few yards down the yarn. That way you don’t have to stop every three stitches to get enough yarn for the next one. Conversely, if you are getting to a section where every stitch has a bead on it, slide a group of about 20 beads close to your hands, and scooch them up to the hook as you need them.


• Finish and weave in ends as before.

What a difference a thread makes…

The two pieces pictured use the very same lace pattern, give or take a few single crochets. One is a hand-painted wool with opaque carnival beads, the other is a mohair/silk with mixed translucent beads.

Great Books for Trim Patterns

The first two books are published by Dover. They are extremely affordable, and have vast resources of trim and old-school patterns. It’s worth getting the books just for descriptions like: “Simplicity Triumphs in the Serene Clarity of this Fine Pattern,” and “Wide or Narrow, Edgings Give a Fastidious Look.” The other books have a handful of edging and insertion patterns. Most books with an overview of crochet techniques have a few edging patterns in them. You just have to search a little to find them.

• 150 Favorite Crochet Designs, Mary Carolyn Waldrep, Ed.


• Traditional Edgings to Crochet, Rita Weiss


• Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet


• Crocheting School, Sterling Publishing Company


• Crochet Stitch Bible, Betty Barnden

I am not able to view your pictures.  Can you help?

Thanks - MMM

I don't see any pictures, either.  Will try this out the next time i'm wanting to play!