Beyond Beading: Jewelry Projects to Instruct and Inspire

Natural, playful, or vintage? No matter what your outfit calls for, Beyond Beading has an answer. A trip to the seashore can end in a beautiful shell necklace. An afternoon antiquing can mean a mother of pearl bracelet by tomorrow. With eclectic materials and a few simple pages of instruction, any adornment is possible.

Create stylish adornments for your neck, your wrist, your handbag, and your clothing with these 25 creative jewelry projects from renowned crafts consultant and designer Erika Knight.

For novice jewelry makers and anyone who covets the hottest must-have accessories, Beyond Beading is Erika Knight’s latest contribution to the craft world. In it, she turns her skilled aesthetic eye—honed for years in her sumptuous, timeless knitted and crochet designs—to the art of jewelry making. Working with fellow craft practitioner Joy Fox, and using materials as diverse as driftwood and pebbles, pom-poms and crocheted flowers, antique glass and vintage buttons, Knight has created projects themed as “Natural,” “Playful,” and “Vintage.” These themes make it possible for women of varied tastes to find—and fashion—the perfect accent for different outfits and occasions.

Most of the 25 pieces (including 8 from Joy) involve only easy techniques for threading and knotting in a variety of fibers, such as cord, wire, suede, hemp, ribbon, or leather—while a few also include other clearly explained craftwork such as basic wrapping, knitting, and crocheting. All of them are showstopping.