| A Little History |  |
"You knit the wire?!?" is an often heard comment made by people in my booth at shows where I sell my knitted wire work. Since I’m usually working on something there in the booth, one look at the equipment used leads to reminiscences and stories about what the customer did as a child, with yarn, using this same equipment.
Spool knitting is an adaptation of an ancient cord-making technique. It has been practiced using yarn by children and adults in the United States since colonial days. The knitted cords produced were often sewed together in coils to form hot pads, placemats, and even rugs.
| How Do You Do That? | |
This technique
does not require a large number of tools or materials.
The wire used must be very soft. Wire becomes work-hardened as it is manipulated,
so wire that is not soft will break. Each knitted wire piece is made of
a single continuous piece of wire.
A knitting spool is sometimes referred to as a loom. The stylus is used
to manipulate the wire over the pegs. Knitting spools may have any number
of pegs on them. The spools we like and sell have 3 or 5 pegs each.
Once you
have the tools, wire knitting is actually a simple weaving process. Beads
can be incorporated into the design. Visit the Galleries
to see many different examples of what can be done with knitted wire.
To learn to use this technique yourself, buy the book Wire Knitting...On
a Spool and accompanying tools in the Shop.