Play .Knit .Create .
Betsy Hershberg
HAND KNITTER, DESIGNER AND MAKER OF FIBER JEWELRY
WITH BEADS & OTHER COOL STUFF
"My work celebrates the versatility of hand knitting, using both traditional and original stitch making. Very small needles and fine threads, often in combination with glass beads or other vintage components, offer me seemingly endless creative possibilities. I find inspiration everywhere and often where least expected."
SECOND IMPRESSIONS
Fringeworthy
Myra
Matrix
Mirror Mirror
Juried shows at the Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), the Smithsonian (Wash. DC) and the Society of Arts and Crafts, (Boston) among many others.
I'm proud to be represented by Gravers Lane Gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Author of Betsy Beads:
Confessions of a Left-Brained Knitter
Jewelry.Spotlight.On...
Materials as Inspiration
PAPER CASCADE
I'm always on the lookout for unusual components
that can inspire a new design. And this necklace
is the perfect example of what can result.
Paper Cascade
A trip to the great Philadelphia store Material Culture turned up what appeared to be a beaded door curtain, like those I was familiar with from the 60's and 70's except that the brightly colored plastic beads of those curtains were nowhere in sight. Instead, there were strings of individually constructed rolled paper "beads" that had been treated with something that hardened them. 60 strings of 35 beads each in all. Each bead unique. A real bonanza.
Once bead strings were cut down to my preferred lengths, they were treated like any other component bead in the collar part of the necklace. They were pre-strung onto the viscose fiber along with the Japanese glass beads and knitted in according to the plan I mapped out prior to beginning to knit..
Who.Am.I.
"An enthusiastic, mostly self- taught hand knitter from the age of 8, I had my knitting world turned upside down when I learned to bead knit in 2002."
Betsy Hershberg
As a myriad of ideas for combining beads
and fiber began to take over my knitting brain,
I found myself on a completely unexpected journey
which has forever altered the way I think about
my left-brained self and the creative process.
What happened next?
New.Now.Next.
WRITING HERE SINCE
2012
LATEST ENTRY
September 2026
Studio B.log
I get to show my work in wonderful places. I get asked lots of interesting questions. And I have a lot of thoughts about creativity, inspiration, design, art and artistry. Among other things. I've been writing about them on my previous website blog for 14 years now. In addition to new posts here, you'll find some of my favorite older blog posts that I've brought forward onto this new site as a way of introducing new followers to my work and to my left-brained process. I hope you'll click over and check it out. Newest posts will always be on top. Always more to see. Always more to learn. Play.Knit.Create.
Betsy.Beads.Book.
Confessions of a Left-brained Knitter
from XRX Books
Over 30 designs for bead knitted jewelry and accessories.
Five technique sections and seven essays about creativity.
More than 15,000 copies sold.
Copies may still be found online but the 2 print runs are complete.
A PDF version is available for purchase here.
Talk.to.me.
Have questions about how something was made? Want more information about a piece you have seen somewhere? Are you curious about materials or the book? Have an exhibition invitation? All of it reaches me at the same place, and I answer all of it myself. No chatbots. No canned responses. No AI. Just me. So please write!
