Knitted Wire Jewelry

I thought that being a fiber artist shouldn’t restrict me to just fibers for knitting. I’ve been just waiting for the right time to start experimenting with knitting beaded wire. The challenge is to get the wire beaded before you knit with the right number of beads. The lady who sold me the wire reckoned approx. 150 beads per bracelet. I just thread up the wire and estimate the number of beads. Fortunately I found a battery operated bead spinner from Wal-Mart. I have to confess its not aesthetically pleasing like the wooden ones I’ve seen but it’s speeded up the process… once I get the angle of the wire right.

 

So here are my first attempts.

2 inch wide Knitted Wire Bracelet With Small Seed Beads

 

I didn’t like the fastening available to me so I decided to try buttons and beaded loops and hope they will work. I’ve been wearing a smaller version as an experiment. No, the red wire hasn’t rubbed off onto my arm and the button fastening held up for the whole day.

Button fastenings on wide bracelet

 

Turquoise Knitted Wire Necklace and Bracelet

 

The necklace is knitted with slightly larger beads and fastened with a white pearl button. The bracelet is knitted with seed beads and fastens with a shell button.

Knitted Orange Crinkle Wire Necklace With Vintage Small Buttons

Knitted with crinkle wire and those adorable vintage shirt buttons.

The fastening is a single orange button with a bead loop.

I’ve been brave and put them for sale in this month’s show at the Redlands Art Association.