Make it: Crochet Charm Necklaces

Make it: Crochet Charm Necklaces
from the Teen Time episode of Creative Juice

This is a great beginner crochet project. When I was growing up, my grandmother made me hundreds of chain stitch necklaces for me. She would dangle peace sign charms and trinkets from her travels from the yarn chain. I still have many of them in my jewelry drawer.

Materials:
ball of yarn
size-K crochet hook
needle-nose jewelry pliers
jump rings
charms
optional: necklace clasp


1. Begin by making a slipknot: lay the tail of the yarn over your palm, open your fingers and loop the yarn under and back over your first two fingers, creating an X .

2. Pull the lower piece of yarn, forming an X through the top piece of the X. This loop will create the slipknot.

3. Place the hook end of a crochet hook through the loop and pull the loop tight onto the hook.

4. Loop the loose yarn end around your pinkie and up around your index finger. This step lets you to control the yarn tension.

5. To start a stitch, loop the yarn from the back side to the front around the hook and pull the loop over the hook.

6. Repeat making loops and pulling over the hook to create a 14" chain.

7. Cut the yarn approximately 6"-8" from the end of the chain and gently remove the chain from the crochet hook.

8. Loop the loose end of yarn through the last chain loop, and loop again through the resulting knot. Gently pull the knot tight at the end of the chain.

9. Optional: attach a necklace clasp piece to either side of the necklace.

10. Using round-nose jewelry pliers, open a jump ring and thread on a charm.

11. Fold a crochet chain in half and use as a guide to find the center of the necklace. Thread a jump ring through the crochet link and close the ring with needle-nose pliers.

12. Continue threading charms with jump rings. Ensure the charms are distributed evenly along the necklace by counting the necklace links.