Christmas Knot: Bead Crochet Knot Earrings in Terra Vista Stone Dust

Crochet a short tube of 10/0 seed beads, tie it in a knot, and you have a plump little earring that looks far more complicated than it is. Each tube is about 3.5 in (9 cm) long, five beads around, and the knot packs those beads into a tight, textured bundle about the size of a fingertip.

Alexandra Lysenko designed the Christmas Knot for Preciosa Ornela in a single color, Terra Vista Stone Dust, a soft pale grey that looks like frost on wool. One knot makes an earring; the same knot works as a ring or a brooch. Bead sizes are given in aught (10/0). All other measurements are imperial with metric in parentheses.

Materials & Tools

The Palette

The original uses one color for both knots, so the whole look rests on texture. Terra Vista's soft, chalky surface keeps the tightly packed beads from glinting, and the knot reads as one solid shape. If you want a set, the same knot in four quiet winter tones makes a pair of earrings, a ring and a brooch that belong together.

• Opaque Stone Dust 10/0 - 25 Grams $3.75
• Opaque Moonstone 10/0 - 25 Grams $3.75
• Opaque Silent Blue 10/0 - 25 Grams $3.75
• Opaque Ocean Mist 10/0 - 25 Grams $3.75

One color per knot. Stone Dust is the original; Moonstone, Silent Blue and Ocean Mist make a matching set.

Add all 4 to cart · $15.00

Open this palette in the Color Studio

In the Color Studio you can swap in any bead we have in stock and see the colors side by side before you buy.

Pattern Notes

The whole earring is one crocheted tube. Every round has five beads, and each stitch is a slip stitch with a bead caught in it. Because the beads tilt as you work, the tube builds in a slow spiral rather than in stacked rings.

Part	Size
Beads to string, per earring	About 20 in (50 cm) of strung 10/0s
Beads per round	5
Finished tube, before knotting	About 3.5 in (9 cm)

Step-by-Step

1. String the beads. Use the big eye needle to load about 20 in (50 cm) of Stone Dust 10/0s onto the crochet thread, straight from the spool. Don't cut the thread; you'll slide beads up as you need them.
2. Start with five bead chains. Make a slip knot and leave the loop roomy, because you'll use it to close the ring in the next step. Slide one bead up against the hook, yarn over behind it, and pull through to make a chain stitch with a bead in it. Repeat until you have five bead chains.

   

   

   

   

3. Close the ring and start round two. Put the hook through that first roomy loop and pull the thread through both loops at once. The five beads now form a small ring. For the first bead stitch, push the hook into the stitch just left of the first bead, tip that bead down and to the right, slide the next bead snug against it, catch the thread and pull it through both loops (a slip stitch). Work the rest of the round the same way.

   

   

   

   

   

4. Crochet the tube. Keep working bead slip stitches round and round in a spiral. Check your work as it grows: every bead should sit with its hole pointing up, in the direction you're crocheting. Carry on until you've used all the strung beads, then cut the thread, leaving a long tail for sewing the earring to its back.

   

   

5. Hide the starting tail. Thread the tail at the start of the tube onto the needle, tuck it inside the tube and stitch it in.

   

   

6. Tie the knot. Tie the tube into a simple overhand knot, the same knot you'd tie in a piece of rope. Thread the working tail onto the needle and pass it through a bead at the end of the tube, as in the photos, so it comes out where the two ends will meet.

   

   

   

7. Join the ends. Bring the two ends of the tube together. Pass the needle under the thread beside a bead on the opposite end, then under the thread on the first end, and keep zigzagging back and forth until the two ends are closed into one smooth loop. Work the tail into the knot, but don't cut it. You'll use it to sew on the earring back.

   

   

   

   

8. Sew on the earring back. Set the sieve disc against the back of the knot and stitch through the holes with the tail. Keep the stitches small where they cross the front so the thread doesn't show, and don't pull them tight: too much tension drags beads into the tube and flattens the knot. Make the second earring the same way.

   

   

   

Tips

• Keep the first loop big. A tight slip knot is the most common reason the ring won't close in step 3. You can always snug it up afterwards.
• Watch the bead holes. If a bead lies sideways with its hole facing out, the stitch caught it wrong. Fix it right away; a crooked bead buried in the knot shows as a gap.
• Firm thread, firm tube. A stiff denim thread holds the tube round so it ties into a crisp knot. A soft thread gives a floppy tube and a shapeless knot.
• Make both tubes the same length. Measure against the first tube before you knot the second. A difference of a few rounds changes the knot's size more than you'd expect.

Variations

• A matching set. Knot one tube each in Moonstone, Silent Blue and Ocean Mist for earrings, a ring and a brooch in the same quiet winter palette.
• A ring. Instead of an earring back, glue the finished knot to an adjustable ring with a glue-on pad, or sew it to a sieve ring base.
• A brooch. Sew the knot onto a sieve brooch back, or pair two knots in different colors on one pin, as in the original.
• Holiday color. Try a Christmas red or deep green 10/0 for a gift-ready version. Any 10/0 that suits a firm crochet tube works.

Design credit: Preciosa Ornela / Alexandra Lysenko. Instructions and photos adapted for clarity for the Shipwreck Beads blog.