Adjustable Crocheted Necklace

These Adjustable Crocheted Necklaces are fun and easy to make, and they make great gifts. Even if you're new to crochet, you'll be able to stitch these up easily. If you can crochet a chain, you can make these!

I like to make hand-made gifts for my friends and family, and these Adjustable Crocheted Necklaces are always a big hit. There are lots of fun novelty yarns in various colors and textures available. I couldn't resist crocheting several different ones from the fun yarns I found.

Let's grab a few supplies and stitch up an Adjustable Crocheted Necklace.

You'll only need a few supplies to make these Adjustable Crocheted Necklaces, and they are generally available at your local craft shop and/or local yarn shop. I found nice sized beads at a craft store in the jewelry making department, and my yarns came from both a craft store and my local yarn store. Some examples of yarns I've used are shown in the second photo.

Materials:

• Lightweight novelty yarn with some texture (approx. 15 yards total)
• One bead with a large hole

Tools:

• Crochet Hook, size G or H
• scissors
• ruler/tape measure - to measure at least 15"
  • Optional:
  • small crochet hook (steel size 6 or so) - helps with threading yarn through bead
  • small yarn/tapestry needle - helps with threading yarn through bead

Trellis/Railroad style yarns work well, as do yarns with little nubbins. Your bead will need a hole large enough to accommodate threading 10 pieces of your yarn through the hole. "Pony" sized beads work well - the bead can be plastic, metal, wood, etc - whatever you would like.

We'll need 5 crocheted strands for our necklace. Each crocheted strand is made up of:

15" plain yarn, 12" crocheted chain, 15" plain yarn. Here we go!

Crocheting the Strands:

1. Measure 15" from your ball of yarn - do NOT cut!
2. Make a slipknot at the 15" point. Double-check to make sure you still have 15" plain yarn. If not, undo your slipknot and try again.
3. Insert your size G/H crochet hook into the slipknot
4. Crochet a loose chain that measures ~12"
5. Measure an additional 15" from your ball of working yarn.
6. Cut the yarn
7. Pull the end of your working yarn through your last crochet chain loop to finish off

That completes the first strand. Easy-peasy. Repeat until you have 5 crocheted strands.

You're on the home stretch, no more crocheting. Next we'll assemble our necklace.

Now that we've got 5 strands, it's time to assemble them into our necklace.

Joining the first side:

1. Gather your 5 strands together and line up one side of the chains. We'll call this Point A.
2. Tie a simple overhand knot and snug it tight right next to the chain stitches. I used my crochet hook to help me pull the strands through the loop for the knot.

Your crocheted strands are now held together at Point A. Let's repeat those steps to join the other side.

Joining the second side:

1. Gather your 5 strands and line them up at the other side of the chains. We'll call this Point B.
2. Tie another knot and snug it right up to the chain stitches on this side too.

We now have the chain section of our necklace held together between two knots, with five 15" tails extending on either side. We'll add a bead next.

Now we'll add a bead. The bead is what makes these Adjustable Crocheted Necklaces adjustable!

Adding the Bead:

1. Thread each of the 10 tails through your bead - don't worry if the tails aren't all even at this point. Make sure to get all 10 tails through the bead!

Tidying the Tails:

1. Move your bead up on the tails so that it sits snug up against the knots made at Point A and Point B. Gently pull the yarn tails so there is not excess yarn between your knots and your bead
2. Smooth out all 10 yarn tails so they lay nice and straight

Note: I tried several methods for getting the 10 tails through the bead. What works best for you will depend on your yarn and bead choices. Here are some options:

• poke each tail individually through the bead - hold previously threaded tails snug against the bead to maximize the bead hole when threading additional tails through
• use a very small (steel hook size 6 or so) to reach through the bead and grab each tail to pull it through the bead hole.
• use a small yarn/tapestry needle - thread the needle with the tails and feed them through the bead hole individually or a few at a time

We're almost done... only one more knot and a final trim to go!

Finishing:

1. Gather up the 10 yarn tails that now extend from the bead
2. Tie a simple overhand knot at ~11-12" from the bead. Make sure ALL 10 of the tails extend from this knot.
3. Cut the excess yarn tails that extend from the knot, leaving about 1/4" tail beyond the knot. This will help keep the knot secure

Note: it may be helpful to use your crochet hook to get all the yarn tails through the knot

Your Adjustable Crocheted Necklace is now complete!

Slip it on over your head and enjoy your new necklace. Slide the bead away from the chains for a longer necklace, and closer to the chains for a shorter necklace.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you will enjoy making - and wearing - your very own Adjustable Crocheted Necklace.

This is my first Instructable - I learned so much posting it, and it was fun to participate in the Knit and Crochet Speed Challenge!