What You Need to Know About This Crochet Pattern Book:
Book Title: The Beaded Edge: Inspired Designs for Crocheted Edgings and Trims
Authors: Midori Nishida / CRK Design — Chiaki Kitaya, Kaoru Emoto, Kuma Imamura, Kumiko Yajima, Noriko Yoshiue, Yasuko Endo
Publisher: Interweave
ISBN: 978-1-59668-300-6
Format: Trade Paperback
Number of Pages: 88
Cover Price: $17.95 US dollars
Skill Level: No skill level is mentioned, but I’d recommend this book to experienced crocheters. This is not a book for beginners, although it could inspire a beginner to want to learn new skills and aspire to create these designs.
Gorgeous Photography and Graphic Design
This book is a visual treat. Every page is beautiful. It’s rare to find a book that’s this visually appealing. The photography is outstanding, as are the color choices used throughout. The graphic design is lovely too.
The Bead Crochet Projects You’ll Find in The Beaded Edge Book:
There are 18 different beadwork designs included in this book. It’s possible to use each design in multiple ways, and the book includes many different ideas for doing so. You’ll find ideas for edging your scarves, trimming your clothing, and dressing up your home furnishings and home decor items. There are also Christmas ideas and wedding ideas included.
The beadwork patterns are inspired by simple everyday objects and motifs: stars, flowers, berries, chili peppers, church bells and things like that. Some of the beaded trims are purely decorative and don’t resemble any particular object. It’s a nice mix of patterns.
By the time I was finished looking through the book, I was feeling so inspired that I grabbed a crochet hook and tried working a few of the patterns.
Then reality set in.
“Fiddly” is a word that comes to mind when describing the patterns in this book. There’s no getting around it. If you want to make these projects, you’ll be working with tiny beads, fine threads and flosses, and steel crochet hooks. Expect to spend some time on these projects; this is detailed work. If you’ve never worked patterns like this before, it’s probably going to take you some effort to get good results.

About the Bead Crochet Instructions You’ll Find in This Book
The Beaded Edge includes both written instructions and diagrams. The diagrams are crystal clear and easy to understand, which is good because I found the written instructions frustrating to work with. While I was able to decipher them, they do include occasional unfamiliar terms (“ringing the work”? huh?) and quirky spots.
Beadwork Designs on the Book Cover
You know the old cliche: Don’t judge a book by its cover.
In this case, you can judge the book by its cover as long as you don’t fall in love with the specific beadwork designs pictured on the cover. The instructions for these patterns are not included in the book. The cover photograph is mostly representative of the types of designs you’ll find in the book; the actual designs you’ll be working are similar to the ones shown on the cover. But please don’t buy the book with the expectation that you’ll be able to work the exact same patterns shown on the cover.
If you like the butterfly design pictured on the cover, there’s a similar butterfly included in the book. At least one of the designs looks as if perhaps it might be tatting, and there are not any tatting patterns included in the book. (It is also possible that it might be made using the cro-tatting technique.)
The Bottom Line
Assuming you have the time and patience to do detail work, and that you’d like to embellish your projects with pretty beaded trims, I’m happy to recommend this book to you. I think it’s a good value, and I found it highly inspiring.
Do you have a copy of this book in hand? If so, you are invited to comment on your experiences with it. Your opinion counts! Your comments will help other crafters make an informed decision about whether to spend their hard-earned money on the book. The more reviews the better! Thanks in advance to everyone who contributes.
Where to Buy The Beaded Edge
Apparently, this book is now out of print — but you can still find copies of it available for sale on the secondary market. I just checked today — 7-23-2023– and there were multiple copies of the Beaded Edge available for sale from sellers at Biblio. Please note that there is a sequel to this book, and it’s hard to filter the sequel out of the search results for this book, so you’ll want to pay attention to which one you’re looking at when you consider either of these books that are available for sale online.
Click here to shop for this book at Biblio.
See More About: Crocheting With Beads | Crochet Books | Crochet Edging Patterns |Interweave Crochet Books | The Best Bead Crochet Pattern Books
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- Click Here to Learn How to Crochet; This Link Takes You to a Total Beginner’s Guide to Crochet.
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- Click HERE to Find Fabulous Yarn for Crochet and Knitting
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Posted By: Amy Solovay
Page last updated on 7-26-2023. Thanks for visiting!