Spool Knitting with Wire Video Tutorial
April 21, 2009 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under eco projects & green projects & recycling craft, jewelry, spool knitter & spoolknitter, spool knitting and spoolknitting, tutorial
Happy Almost Earth Day!
I hope you have had a wonderful day that included lots of lovely green living
photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright
and eco projects, and that you are going to do something special for Earth Day tomorrow.
We are going to plant some baby trees. That’s them in the pic to the right.
The Spool knitter is one that I made from a chunk of old wood that we found in Jim’s Dad’s workshop 10 or so years ago. Jim’s Dad was a champion recycler.
He would upcycle stuff in the neatest ways…. nothing much got thrown away around Mum and Dad’s house. If it could be re-used, repaired, re-purposed, reclaimed, or restored or renewed, you know it would be!
In amongst the things we found in the workshop after Dad passed away was a very old handle from some kind of gardening or maybe woodworking tool. The wood is super hard and wonderfully worn. You can feel the years of use that have gone into wearing the grain into the wood.
So, I have been really enjoying being able to upcycle that old handle into spool knitters for jewelry makers to create wonderful treasures with.
Today, as an ‘almost Earth Day’ project, I finished up a bracelet that uses a fun bit of upcycling and reclaiming: (as well as the upcycled wood in the spool knitter itself, that is!) I spool knitted a bracelet with copper wire, and pushed a vintage marble into the center of the spool knitted wire cord:
photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright
I bought the marble at our favorite second hand store, because it looks so much like the earth.
How perfect for an Earth Day bracelet.
Spool knitting with wire is somewhat tricky, as wire has no give. It’s worth it, though, as you can do fab things with wire!
There are a few things that I have found over the years that make spool knitting with wire much easier, and so I have made a video to help show these special hints and tips:
Loved that video. I wish I were home to get my supplies and try it.
Thanks so much, Barbara.
That is the hard part about travelling, isn’t it? To be far away from your tools and supplies… ack!
Ah well, happy travels, and hope you have fun when you get home to all your goodies!
Loved the spoolknitting with wire and must try it. What gauge wire do you use and how do you attach a clasp for fastening?
Hi Jacqui
Thank you!
You can use a wide variety of wire gauges for spool knitting with wire. I tend to mostly work with 26 gauge, but lots of people prefer 28 or 30 gauge….. it’s good to experiment!
where can i purchase a spool knitter, spefically to use with wire?
Thank you so much Noreen! This is going to be so much fun! Spool arrived today and really brightened my day.