Knit with Beading Wire

A timeless tradition that many will recall learning as a child has returned. The knitting spool you may have used with yarn or thread as a youngster has been reimagined for wire weaving. Skip ahead to 2009 and try knitting using Soft Flex Art Wire, Soft Flex® Beading Wire as well as threads, cords, yarns, leathers, etc. You can add beads, you can weave multiple different materials together and create unique, one-of-a-kind jewelry bracelets and necklaces.

How to video about knitting on a spool with Soft Flex® beading wire

Instructions for knitting on a spool with Soft Flex® beading wire

Not only are there 3 different styles of knitting spools available (3-peg, 4-peg & 5-peg) but there are several different ways to knit on each spool. I've learned 3 variations. The first two were taught to me many years ago by Diane Trepanier are called Style 1 & Style 2 below.

Style 1:

Stick the wire down the center of the spool. When teaching this technique, I always describe the face of the knitting spool like a clock. So you can see below that the wire is running to the left of 12 o'clock.

Wrap the wire clockwise around 12pm, pass through the middle of the spool and then wrap clockwise around 10pm, then 8pm, 4pm & 2pm. You should have one loop around each peg. (In my design, I'm using 2 wire colors: Purple Amethyst Soft Flex® Wire & Pink Rhodochrosite Soft Flex® Wire, but treating them as if they are one wire.)

Simply repeat the pattern and wrap each peg a second time. And then, starting at 12pm, use your stylus (comes with the knitting spool) to pull the bottom loop up over the top loop and into the middle of the spool.

For a bracelet, knit about 5 inches of chain. When ready to remove from the knitting spool, cut the wire that you have been feeding in with about 2-3 inches to spare to create a tail. Carefully pull each loop off of the spool. Push your tail through each loop. Play around with it and cinch down as tight as you can get it. And finally, crimp the wire to an eye pin, pull the eye pin through a cone and wire wrap to the single strand clasp of your choice.

click to enlarge photo

Style 2:

Is exactly the same, except you will wind 3 loops around each peg and pull the bottom loop up over the top two loops. More wire will be running through this design so it will be much more dense.

Style 3:

The third style was taught to me by Lisa Vernon, my Soft Flex Company co-worker. It is also very similar to the Single Knit and Double Knit but yields a design that looks more like a Viking Knit. The basic instructions that come with each spool are for this variation.

You will only wrap the wire around each peg once. When you return to 12pm, you will not pass through the center but instead wrap the wire around the outside of the peg.

In this style of knitting, you will only have one loop of wire on each peg at all times (instead of 2 or 3). You will pull the loop over the top of the wrapped piece of wire and into the middle. Continue until you have created about 5 inches of chain.

Click on each finished bracelet picture to see a blown up view of how these different styles look!

click to enlarge photo

Not only can you change your design by choosing a different style of knitting - you can also use different colors, different diameters or gauges of wire and different kinds of materials. I used Soft Flex colors in .019/Medium in these two designs.

Our collection of knitting spools are excellent for those of you out there who like to make your own chain. For use with the spools, we carry a wire draw plate, for condensing the diameter and smoothing the chain at the same time. We offer 34 colors of beading wire between our 5 different brands as well as 4 different diameters. The possibilities are endless!

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