Ladder Ribbon Necklaces

Crocheted jewellery has been around for many years. The latest 'twist' has been the necklaces and bracelets crocheted from the ever popular ladder ribbon yarns and flag type yarns.

Very simple to make yet so elegant when finished!

From a distance the necklaces look extremely intricate as they glisten and sparkle but upon closer inspection you will notice that its the yarns that are doing all the work.

Ladder ribbon yarns are simply composed of small panels of fabric suspended between two rows of thin fibers hence the name ‘ladder ribbon’ yarns. They come in various widths and compositions, some as wide as 3/4” and some as narrow as 1/8”. Some of the yarns have a little splash of metallic in them to give that little extra bit of shimmer.

Flag yarns are composed of small panels or ‘flags’ of fabric attached to a single strand.

Making a simple necklace

Materials

One ball of ribbon yarn or flag yarn.  A single ball generally will have enough to make a few necklaces.

I like to use a large crochet hook, preferably a J (10.5mm). 

Ruler and scissors.

A nice selection of yarns is available on Etsy.com 

To begin:

1) Cut 5 strands of yarn each about 10’ long

2) leaving a 12” tail, make a chain about 24” long, finishing off by
pulling the tail through the last chain. Be sure to leave about 12” at
the end as well.

3) With the 5 strands completed, lay them together matching up where the chains started. Knot the strands together a few inches up from the chains on either side.

4)  To close the necklace, holding both sets of ends together, tie all 10 strands in a single knot about 2 “ up from the orginal knots. The knot that I tie at the back of the neck is done so that there is some of the yarn 'dangling' after the knot is tied and the yarn trimmed

 Its NOT a scientific method at all.

And there you have it! A very simple yet elegant necklace that takes about 1/2 hour to make.

Some of my favourite yarns to use are the Diamond Lase from Ice yarns with its  amazing diamond like embellishments right in the yarn

Or the South West Trading Company's Calypso ribbon yarn with its fun texture and softness.

Whatever yarns you finally select, just have fun with them and let your imagination guide you!