Beaded Stitch Markers (earrings?)

This is one of those things I wish I could blog in my own spot, but I know I can't, because I haven't gifted them yet, so I would be spoiling the surprise, and we can't have that now, can we?

No. I think not.

I like these ones best:

Some of my knitting pals probably will want to wear these as earrings. I'm prepared with sets of ear wires for them, should they desire. I'd suggest removing the huge ring and the 2010 tag, but I'll leave the final decision up to them.

Simple to make. I used various "head pins" as a base, all with decorative heads. You just slide on beads until you like what you see. Leave at least an inch of pin to make the loop. You'll bend it over at right angles, leaving about 1/4" clearance between the top bead and the bend. Then take round-nosed pliers, or other small rounded item, like a knitting needle, and wrap the pin end around in a full circle. Keeping the pliers (or knitting needle) in the loop, now wrap the remaining end around the bit of pin just above the beads. Trim if necessary, and give it a good pinch with the pliers to make sure the end stays smoothly in place. Remove the pliers and tweak your loop so it's upright, if it needs it. Lastly, put in a split ring (I use split rings instead of jump rings because jump rings can pull apart) through your loop. I had a hard time finding split rings larger than about 9mm, which works for average knitting needles, but can't handle size 10's or larger. I finally found larger ones at Hobby Lobby. These are 16mm, and should glide nicely over all but those comical massive-huge needles.