Knitting with beading wire

An age old tradition of weaving has returned as a new innovation for wire weaving. The knitting spools come in 3 pin, 4 pin or 5 pin with the stylus included (as shown above).Here are a few design examples from Sharon Hessoun using beading wire:


In the project shown above, you will need:

• Soft Touch Wire - .O10/Very Fine in black & white
• briolette or drop gemstones
• crystals or cz's
  
• focal bead
  
• cones
• eye pins
• 2x2mm crimp tubes
• 1 head pin
• single strand clasp
  
• 3 pin knitting spool
• regular crimping pliers
• round nose & chain nose pliers for wire wrapping

Tips:

• String beads onto the wire before starting to knit and then feed the beads in as you go.
• To finish, the end of the design can be knotted or crimped to an eye pin, pulled through a cone and then the eye pin was wire wrapped to the clasp.
• 2 colors can be knitted together at once - in this design, black & white were used together.
  

In the project shown above, you will need:

• Soft Flex Extreme - .024/Heavy (bright silver)
• 22 or 24 gauge non-tarnish Artistic Wire
  
• briolette or drop gemstones
• centerpiece with large hole (focal bead)
• cones
• eye pins
• 2x3mm crimp tubes
• single strand clasp
• 5 pin knitting spool
• regular crimping pliers
• round nose & chain nose pliers for wire wrapping

Tips:

• To finish, the end of the design can be knotted or crimped to an eye pin, pulled through a cone and then the eye pin was wire wrapped to the clasp.
• She embellished the design by using a focal bead with a large hole that could slip over the top of the knitted wire.
  
• The gemstone briolettes or drops are each individually attached to the wire using 22-24g wire.
  

For further instruction on knitting with artistic wire or with beading wire, check out these great books!

Knitting with Wire by Nancie Wiseman
&
Wire Knitting...On a spool (no longer in print) by Sharon Hessoun
Sharon Hessoun offers several classes at a number of bead shows, including the upcoming Fall Best Bead Show in Tucson, AZ. She is a wonderful teacher, a good friend and we are happy to distribute her products for her.

Class options in Tucson using this technique:

"Silver Extreme Sparkler"
"Textured Elegance Bracelet"
"Watch Knit"