[Jewelry making - Article 00444] - Re: [Orchid] Knitted chain by hand or weaving

[Lisa Gallagher]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

Hi Helen,

    I'm waaay behind on my Digest reading, so perhaps you've gotten
    plenty of replies to your knitting query by now. Maybe as I catch up,
    I'll see this note is redundant. Your note, though, hits close to
    home, so I felt compelled to put my 2 cents in when I read it. Some
    points about Viking knit... 

    1. When I first did it (and I also used sterling the first time), I
    was rather disappointed when I was "done", I had spent all that time
    knitting a necklace chain, and THAT's what it looked like!?! Well, a
    few seconds through a draw plate and magic happened! Suddenly it was
    beautiful even. If you haven't done it yet, PLEASE run it through a
    draw plate and you'll be amazed at how it improves. 

    2. If you do run it through the draw plate you'll see that it of
    course it gets skinnier & longer as you do so, so you won't have to
    knit as much as you might think to get a decent length chain, but I'm
    sure that's not news to you. I've often considered trying a bit of
    the chain and seeing just how skinny I can make it. 

    3. Yes, DO do the knit with fine silver in the future. Two reasons.
    One, it's easier to work. I think doing that knit could cramp up the
    fingers of even the best of us! Other reason is that it won't tarnish
    as quickly and have to be cleaned up in all of its nooks & crannies.
    Of course, if you have a jar of "eggy smelling" dip cleaner, it's not
    such an issue. 

    4. Soldering a tube (or coil) clasp at the end is a task that
    requires a lot of focused attention. Those skinny little wires of the
    chain right there can melt in the blink of an eye (and perhaps
    because you DID blink!), so you must be careful. It's not impossible
    to avoid melting, though, I assure you. 

    Anyway, I hope you're really enjoying this new technique. I think
    it's just wonderful, although I must admit that when I decide to do
    one of these chains (I've done 3 ever) I have to do it in spurts to
    save my tired & achy fingers. 

    I did, by the way, try it the "spool" method first. I had someone in
    school show me how to make my own spool by soldering some wires on a
    brass tube. I had watched her zip through what seemed like miles of
    wire, knitting away as if it were nothing, and I just couldn't get it
    to work! My wire kept breaking. Again and again. Now, I think I might
    have been using sterling (although as with Viking, I got the knit
    started with brass), so that might have been working against me, but
    the point is I used the same wire she did and I just couldn't do it!
    Now, I can't knit in real life, either, so maybe I'm just not meant
    to knit my wire, either, in a more traditional way (not that spool
    knitting is how an adult usually knits!). Of course, I could use
    those little spools when I was a kid and was using yarn. I whipped
    out countless useless ropes of knitted colorful yarn! When it comes
    to wire, though, the Viking knit I can do, so I do it that way. I'm
    sure, though, that if I could just figure out how to get it with the
    spool method, it would be easier to have evenly spaced rows even
    before drawing down since they're created on evenly space wires
    instead of "freehand". Hmmm... makes me want to find where that spool
    is and try it again!

Lisa
Designs by Lisa Gallagher
www.lisagallagher.com
____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________