Where to find beads?

#1

I’m knitting the Swallowtail Shawl (Ravelry link, sorry!) and I want to place beads instead of nupps. Anyone have a good online source for beads (or a brick and mortar store in the L.A. area)? This will be my first time using beads! :happydance:

I am using fingering weight yarn (Berocco Alpaca Ultra) in a turquoise color and hoping to get 8-0 seed beads and a #13 crochet hook and to attach them as I go.

Here is a nice article about beading that I am referring to for help. I have never seen a size #13 crochet hook so if anyone knows where I can get one, that would be great, too. All mine have letters instead of numbers! :rofl:

#2

Do you have a Michaels or a similar craft store like that nearby? I have had good luck getting nice beads there for very little money. I’m sure you can get the right size crochet hook there as well. I use seed beads, usually 8mm and a size 9 or 10 crochet hook works well. A 13 sounds smaller than you need it to be.

#3

Laikabear Thank you sooooo much for the link to the tutorial on beading!! I have stayed far away from using beads because of the prestringing thing! As for bead shops close to you, look up bead shops in your zip code and you should find some to pick and chose from. I googled crochet hook sizes and went to a site called norn’s
needlework crochet hook conversion chart. Scroll down a bit to find “letter” to “number” conversions. Good luck!

#4

Hi there…don’t know about LA for beads, but there is an awesome bead store here (Oberlin Ohio)…http://beadparadise.com/ that’s right across the street from the college…also if you can’t find a size 13 crochet hook I have tons of vintage ones:hug: just pm me… I have done bead work with that technique it works wonderfully, no pre-stringing…