If you have wanted to try this technique, then here are a few tips/ideas to help you out:
1. It is true that you don't need to know how to knit or have any previous experience knitting to be able to learn this technique. The knitting spool used for this really does most of the job of knitting. So don't think you need previous knitting experience to try this.
2. According to the boo Wire Knitting…On a Spool by Sharon Hessoun use thin gauge wire such as 28-gauge for best results. I tried larger gauges and found it too difficult.
3. When following the directions in Hessonun's book or any similar wire knitting text, try to "do" it as you "read" it step by step. Be patient and read - do - read - do…
4. The instructions say to wrap all the pegs and then pull the loops over all of them. I found it easier to wrap and pull one peg at a time. Maybe I can eventually learn to do it the other way, but this works best for me now.
5. Once your knitted wire starts to be a few inches long, add a heavy bead to the end of the wire tail that goes down through the spool. A reader sent me a tip that a fishing lure worked well for this, but I used an 8mm hematite bead since I don't fish. This really helped weigh down the tail and have something to grasp when I had to pull on it.
6. To be able to incorporate your finished wire chains into a piece of jewelry, I think it would be helpful to have some previous wire knowledge such as making wrapped loops.
Obviously, this technique is not something the average jewelry maker can learn in just a few minutes. I worked on this during a rainy afternoon, and I ended up make a knitted chain of wire and then inserted this through a wooden draw plate when I got the length I wanted. I used colored wire and dangled caymanite heart cut by Dr. Joe, and then added a hook on the other end to create a lariat.
