Almost the end of the year for KL Jewelry Design
14 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Beads, Bracelets, Earrings, Jewelry, Necklaces, Sets, Techniques Tags: art show, artisan, bracelet, business, craft show, designer, earrings, festival, gemstones, handmade, jewelry business, jewelry making, necklace, support, website, women
With the end of the shopping season coming to an end this Saturday at Papillion LaVista South High School Fall Arts and Crafts Show, I have to admit it has been an up and down year, mostly down in sales. I had a few really good shows and festivals but mostly I crossed them off the list to skip for a few years. There are just so many crafters out there making jewelry. I honestly think that people think it is a piece of cake and any monkey can do it.
I have to agree with some of the things I’ve seen. If you can buy or take notes from a magazine on jewelry making you go to the hobby store and pick up the exact same items and put them together in the exact same way then you copied a piece of jewelry, but what most of us do is use the magazines as an inspiration for a new design.
Here’s how I work: I browse the jewelry and art jewelry magazines and books looking mostly for the latest trends in jewelry in order to keep up with the fashion desires of my customers. Then I look at the different ways things are put together but again I am mostly looking for a new technique to use in making jewelry. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw a design that I loved so much that I made it exactly the same way with the same type of materials. All of my pieces that I offer for sale or that I keep for myself are my own original designs and combinations.
Retro Fun Set
What I find the most rewarding is when I combine materials and colors that you just don’t think of putting together. For instance, I have a piece named Retro Fun. It is a necklace and bracelet set but what is unique about it is that I put lime green and AB (aurora borealis) finished teal colored seed beads with some lampwork beads that are simply blue and green with a little black detailing. You probably wouldn’t think to put lime green and teal together but they work and look fantastic with the simple lampwork beads. This set is available for just $25.
Freshwater Stick Pearls
around your neck. I have to find some little pearls that match to finish out the back of it. I made that necklace and earrings set and the next day at a festival they were gone. Since then I see hundreds of others making the same design selling them online but yesterday I just sold the 3rd set of stick pearls I have made. This time it sold to a woman who when I started to explain to her they were real pearls she told me she knows. She purchased a necklace exactly like the one I was selling for $300, mine sells for $55 and even though she already had that same design she bought it anyway. I will be making my last set of stick pearls this week. These are a beautiful cream color and the earrings will be slightly different but still dangling like the ones in the photo.
Rainforest Jasper Set
them out and looking at them with no ideas coming to mind until I found the same stone in round beads. Then inspiration hit and I made a necklace out of the larger Russian cross beads separated by the round beads but this left me with more of the Russian cross beads leftover to put back in a drawer. When this set sold within a couple of shows, and the summer was ending I knew women would be looking for these colors so the next time I put this set together instead of round rainforest jasper beads I chose a rather odd color of green freshwater pearls. These freshwater pearls blend right in with the colors of the rainforest jasper beads and is for sale for just $35.
2011 Fashion Wars
31 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Bracelets, Earrings, Fashion Shows, Jewelry, Models, Necklaces, Omaha, Pendants, Rings, Sets, Silver
2011 Fashion Wars
Sorry I haven’t been posting much but I’ve been very busy. This time of year is when I have the most shows and with November approaching my season is winding down. Just 4 more shows and then I’m done for the year and then it’s time to start preparing for the shows to begin again starting in February.
Anyway what I’ve been busy with is my very first fashion show. I signed up to do a fashion show in August but that one had to be canceled when the organizer lost most of her models to Fashion Week here in Omaha. She contacted me and asked if I would like to be involved with the Fall Fashion Wars and I agreed. Here’s what that involved. I was the only jewelry designer allowed in the show, I recieved a 1/4 page ad, and I had a booth for people to look at my other pieces.
Leading up to the show I continued to have sales and up until Monday of last week I was making changes to my runway pieces simply because a piece would sell and I would have to replace it. Then last week; just 6 days before the show the organizer told me I would need to have some sort of skit going on during my 15 minutes on the runway! Panic time. I posted on a bunch of forums and got some really good advice and ideas. All that turned out to be for nothing. Yep what the organizer did instead was have music blarring and didn’t say a darn thing. The girls just walked out and across the stage and showed off my jewelry to the photographers and other guests. Next time I will know not to do anything for the show and just let the models show off the pieces.
Anyway with my daughter helping the two of us worked out a plan. She would put the pieces on the girls and I would take them off. Yeah right, best laid plans. The girls just walked up and stood waiting for someone to remove the jewelry and most of the time it ended up being my daughter doing all of it. I had carefully numbered each piece and put them in order in my trays so they would be in line with the MC but then since she wasn’t reading or saying anything we just forgot about that and put pieces on as the girls came back without minding the order. Oh well another lesson learned.
I plan to try to get involved with Fashion Week here in Omaha next year, I’ve missed the spring application deadline because I was busy with this show and others but I have the date the fall application will be availabled on all my calendars so I’ll be ready. I hope I will be chosed to be involved in the fall shows. They take place in several locations over an entire week.
What I learned from this show. If you are doing a fashion show for the first time choose a smaller one. You can make your mistakes with a smaller group and nobody notices, except maybe the fashion writers in the audience. Let the models do their thing without you directing them. I didn’t choose the piece for the model they simply got whatever was the next piece to wear without any problem. Make sure your models have removed all their own jewelry including rings, except wedding rings. Be sure you arrange the jewelry for the best display, I had models trying to arrange pieces after I had put them on because they thought it was on wrong, the piece is an asymmetrical piece with a chain on one side and chips on the other side and then smooth round beads; this model moved the piece so the chain was in the center. I caught it just before she went out. Always have a helper to put the jewelry on the models and take it off. At this show there were only 10 models and I had 40 pieces for the runway. It was a busy 15 minutes. Make sure you get all your jewelry back including the earrings. I was always reminding the girls to take off the earrings. Wear what you make, don’t forget that at the end of the models you will be walking out on the runway and be introduced, you don’t want to be without something you made around your neck. Most of all have fun and be flexible, I was supposed to be second and the designer before me hadn’t shown up 5 minutes before the show began so I was moved up to the #1 slot. Thankfully I was ready. Be sure you have your jewelry in trays to make it easy for you. I had my jewelry on hangtags so that the earrings and necklaces were all together, simply remove the set from the hangtag. After each piece is brought back to you don’t worry about putting the pieces back on the hangtag, you have after the show to work on that. As long as you put all the parts back into your trays you can put the sets back together when you aren’t so busy. One last thing have a small table where you are putting the jewelry on behind the scenes so you can lay out the pieces ready to put them on the models.
- Do have media packets, I had them even though no media took one.
- Do display pieces if you have a table for you media packets and business cards.
- Do display your business sign.
- Do have anyone helping you dress similar and wear your jewelry.
- Do have someone taking photos of the models with your pieces on.
- Do talk, talk, talk, to everyone that gets close to you.
- Do tell everyone you know that you are doing this.
- Don’t be afraid to tell the organizer exactly what you expect and if possible how you want the models to walk the runway. In my case they could go around a fountain or along the front of the audience. I chose in front of the audience.
- Do have fun and relax, it turns out you are really in the hands of the models and if they know what they are having fun it’s all good.
One Step Crimper
04 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: crimping, crimping pliers, jewelry making, one step, pliers, review, standard, tools
One Step Crimping
So I purchased the one step crimping tool after reading about it and seeing it in magazines. I purchased this not because I find crimping to be a pain but really there was so much talk about how great it is that I had to find out for myself.
First of all there are no instructions with the one step crimping tool except a couple of photos on the package showing how to place the crimp in the top and squeeze the bottom levers.
The one step crimping tool has three handles; the top one is short and used to hold the crimp in place while the two larger handles are used to squeeze the crimp closed. Sounds easy right? That’s what I thought too.
At first when I used this tool I had a heck of a time keeping the crimp in place on my wire so that it was next to my beads and clasp. Several times I got so frustrated I reached for my usual crimping pliers and finished the piece as usual.
Sometimes I would get the one step crimper to work but the crimp was loose and my wire came out causing me to waste the crimp and use my standard crimpers again. Other times I couldn’t even get the large crimping handles to work.
I thought boy was this a waste of time and money; why is everyone just raving about this tool? So I turned to the internet to find some more instructions on this tool. What I found was that I was making it very hard on myself and I learned by watching a video on how to use them the correct way to use this tool. Like my dad always said, “If all else fails read the destructions.” Another thing he would say to me is “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up” but that’s another story.
So here I will try to write out some instructions to help you use the one step crimper.
1. The small lever on the top is used to hold your crimp in place. Push down on the small lever with you hand holding the top large lever and the small lever and place your crimp in the groove. Center the crimp.
2. Let go of the small lever and move down to the two larger levers. Squeeze these together and allow the one step crimper to do its thing.
3. Once you have done step 2 move back up to the small lever and squeeze it and the top large lever. This releases your crimp and resets the one step crimper.
That’s it! After I watched that video from Rio Grande I really felt stupid for not being able to work the tool. The first time I got the tool to work after watching the video the crimp was not tight and the wire came undone. I tried again, this time making sure my crimp was centered under the small handle and the one step crimper worked like a charm. My crimp was nice and tight, exactly where I wanted it to be and smooth.
My biggest concern with this tool was what the crimp would look like when I used it. Did it make my crimp flat like I had used a flat nose pliers to press the crimp in place or was it going to look similar to what my crimps look like when I use my crimping pliers. Turns out this tool sort of rounds the crimp tube and while it is bigger than my crimps are when I use my crimping pliers, the edges of the crimp tube is smooth to the touch. So whether you use your standard crimping pliers or the One Step Crimper is up to you but to me it’s worth the price to make crimping one step instead of two or three steps using the standard crimping pliers. Chances are that I will reach for my standard crimpers out of habit but eventually I am determined to make the switch and put my standard crimpers in my show tool box for good.
KL Jewelry Design’s Jewel School Contest Entry
05 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Beads, Bracelets, Contest, Earrings, Jewelry, Necklaces, Pendants, Rings, Sets, Silver Tags: art show, artisan, bracelet, contest, designer, earrings, handmade, kl jewelry design, kljewelrydesign, necklace, silver, wire, wire wrapping, women
Please visit JTV to vote on my entry in the Jewel School Contest. This is a photo of the piece I entered. Thanks.
Swirling Galaxy Ring
25 Aug 2011 1 Comment
in Beads, Galaxy, Jewelry, Rings, Silver, Swirling, Techniques, Tools, Tutorial Tags: 20 gauge, 21 gauge, 6 mm, beads, free, galaxy, half round, kl jewelry design, ring, silver, square, swirling, tutorial, wire
I was watching JTV this last Sunday and one of my favorite jewelry artists was on, Dale “Cougar” Armstrong. She was showing off a new ring design she had created using square wire and some crystals. I always love seeing what Dale comes up with and figuring out something a bit different to make it my own design. So here goes another free tutorial for you as one of my blog readers or Facebook fan.
Swirling Galaxy Ring Created by Kris Penney, Designer/Owner KL Jewelry Design
Materials
6-6mm or smaller beads
3 pieces of 21 gauge square wire of your choice each piece 41/2″ long
1″ 20 gauge half round wire of your choice
Tools
Flat nose pliers
Round nose pliers
Flush cutters
Emery file
Ring mandrel
Rawhide or nylon hammer
Polishing cloth
Masking Tape
Fine tip marker
Step 1
Cut 3 pieces of 21 gauge square wire to 41/2″ in length. Using the polishing cloth clean and straighten each piece.
Step 2
Tape the ends of the bundle of wires together and mark the center of the wire.
Step 3
With the 20 gauge half round wire and your flat nose pliers make a hook on one end. The end of your hook should be at a slight angle so you have something to hold onto while you are wrapping the bundle wires.
Step 4
With your non-dominate thumb hold the wrap wire just to one side of the mark on the bundle wires and with your dominate hand wrap the wire around the side of the bundle wires. With your flat nose pliers press the wrap wire into place.
Step 5
Continue doing this until you have three complete wraps on the outside of the bundle wires. Be sure to start and end your wraps on the same side of the bundle wires, this is the inside of your bundle wires.
Step 6
Trim the wires so they don’t hang out over the edges of your bundle wires and using your flat nose pliers press them into place. Run your finger over the top to be sure there are no rough spots. If there are edges you snag your finger on use an emery board to file the edges and smooth them down.
Step 7
Place the center of your bundle wires on the ring mandrel 1/2 size smaller than your final ring size. with the ring mandrel pressing against your table edge (I do this by putting the largest end of my mandrel against my stomach and the tip against the table and pushing into the table this holds the mandrel in place leaving my hands free to form the ring.
Step 8
Holding onto the wires push or pull them around the ring mandrel 1/2 size smaller than your finished size so if you want a size 8 ring place your wires at 71/2 on the mandrel. Continue shaping the wires around the mandrel until they meet at the center.
Step 9
Start your swirl by moving both ends of your bundles tightly around each other.
Step 10
Continue with the swirl until you have gone all the way round and your wires are now all the way around the swirl. Remove the tape.
Step 11
Fan the ends out as you see in the photo. Try to get them as evenly spaced as you can going around the center swirl.
Step 12
Slip one of your beads onto any of the wires. I am using 6 mm beads but in the photo with the red beads I used the largest size of seed beads (E bead) and got a much tighter swirl for those that don’t like “big” rings.
Step 13
At the very tip of your round nose pliers form a simple loop in the end of the wire.
This wire is just a little bit too long so trim the wire until you have 1/4″ sticking out past the bead. Now form another loop. Continue doing this until you get all your beads on and the wires looped. Sometimes you will have a wire that is short but if you life the wire up from the center swirl you can slip your bead further down your wire and form the loop. You want the beads as close to the center swirl as you can get them.
Step 14
Slip your ring back on your mandrel and if you need to use the rawhide of nylon hammer to gently tap the ring to shape it and get it to your finished size. Your ring should have sprung out to the size you wanted after you did the first swirl. I started at size 71/2 and ended at a size 8.
Now you can enjoy your finished ring. When I have the ring done I put it on and gently press the swirls to smooth them out on my finger to get the ring to fit how I want. When I am selling these I skip shaping the ring to my finger but be sure to let your customers know to do this.
Here are three samples of my Swirling Galaxy Ring
Back to Work!
20 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Bracelets, Earrings, Jewelry, Necklaces, Pendants, Rings, Sets, Techniques, Tools, Tutorial Tags: blabbing, breaking in, fatigue, galleries, Jewelry, kl jewelry design, making, ms, new, shows, success
It’s been awhile since I last posted any of my thoughts. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed from the fatigue caused by MS and I end up just piddling all day in my studio not really doing anything. Now I am feeling much better and ready to start blabbing again.
I was at a small Iowa city last weekend for the Atlanticfest and what a fantastic show it was. I had no idea what to expect especially when I saw the size of the car show that was just a block away. The good thing was that everyone had to walk past all of us to get to the car show. Not a lot of people but they were spending money and really liked my items I had out. I’ve even gotten customers calling the Chamber of Commerce to find out who the jewelry artist from Papillion, NE was. Yep, that’s me. How exciting.
Got a call yesterday canceling the fashion show. They lost 6 models to another show so they had to cancel. That’s okay the have Fashion Wars coming in October and I will be the only jewelry artist allowed to have a booth and again my pieces will be on the runway. That’s 40 pieces of jewelry on the runway, in the fliers, in the print ads, and featured on their website. All just fantastic. Another piece of bad news is that The Shop Around the Corner will be closing on August 31st and I will have to go pick up my pieces from them. That’s a shame because it’s a great little shop of all handmade items but they couldn’t keep it going. I have only had my jewelry in their shop for a few weeks and have already sold two or three pieces. Items in the Corning Center for Fine Arts continue to sell well but that should be coming to an end this fall. Any ideas on how I can break into the local galleries that have the exact same artists in them and the artists never have to leave unless they want to. I’ve been stopping in and visiting with the galleries but nothing seems to make a difference.
I just don’t understand why there isn’t a time frame for moving the arts in and out to refresh things and keep customers coming back to see new artists. I also notice that the galleries have jewelry artists but for the most part they are silversmiths and I most definitely am a wire artist so all my items would not be the same as the artists already in the gallery. Oh well I’ll keep pounding away at them and maybe I’ll finally get my foot in the door.
I have finally gotten all my inventory back in my shop on etsy, www.kljewelrydesigns.etsy.com and that took me a couple of months of taking photos and writing descriptions and pricing to get that into place.
I promise that next week I’ll have a free jewelry making tip and tutorial using my tip but for now remember that the best part of waking up is waking up!
Resin Jewelry
30 Jun 2011 2 Comments
in Bracelets, Jewelry, Resin, Techniques, Tools, Tutorial Tags: bracelet, cabochon, design, easy, inexpensive, jewelry making, kljewelrydesign, resin, techniques
Resin cabochon with bronze and blue metallic paints mixed into the resin
I’ve been playing with some resin that I got and making some resin cabochons. Here’s the thing, when you go to buy resin be sure you read the box all the way so you don’t do what I did and pick up resin that turns white when it sets. Turns out it’s pretty cool to add paint to the resin and have that show through with the white but I was originally planning to make clear resin with scrapbook paper in it to see how it looked. Next time.
Do you have some old watches that don’t work? Why not try your hand at resin jewelry? You will need to take the watches completely apart so you have the gears and workings inside, purchase a base metal casting bracelet at your local craft store and clear resin. It’s as simple as that. Mix the resin according to the package directions, gently pour the resin down the craft stick into your bracelet casting until it is about 1/2 full; add your watch pieces, photos, or whatever you are adding and finish filling the casting level with the top of the metal frame.
Long rectangular cabochons of resin with blue metallic paint placed in the mold prior to adding the resin
All you resin to set until it is hard and your bracelet is done. A base metal casting bracelet is simply a common metal such as stainless steel or brass, it is formed into a simple shape such as a rectangle or square and linked together with a clasp. You can purchase these at about any craft store for very little. If you got any resin over the top of the frames simply use an emery board to file away any extra resin.
I wouldn’t recommend you wear it all the time but a bracelet like this is usually not worn all the time anyway. This inexpensive bracelet should only cost you about $5 to make and is a super fun item to have.
These are a few of the cabochons I’ve made using resin cabochon molds that I purchased at my local craft stores and created using that darn resin that turns white as it cures. I’ll be getting the clear resin soon and trying my hand as other ideas I have rattling around in my brain. I haven’t done any trimming but that is very simple by using a pair of scissors or a craft knife. You can even use an emery board (my favorite file) to trim off any extra resin that got over the top of the mold.
For now hope you have enjoyed this blog and learned that you can always try your hand at making something as easy as a resin and base metal bracelet.
Kris
Learning a New Ring
12 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Jewelry, Rings, Tutorial Tags: cabochon, crystal, dome, handmade, Jewelry, kljewelrydesign, rings, wire
Have you ever been working on a design and you have books, tutorials, and videos with the design in it with different people telling you how to make it and they are all wrong? Well that’s what I was seeing with the Classic Cabochon Ring or the ring designed by Tom Phelan years ago. I’m sure somewhere along the path of translation from Mr. Phelan’s ring design to other jeweler’s interpretation of his design.
Here’s what I found out. Most of the time if you are making this ring in a size 5 or 6 with an 18 x 13 mm cabochon it comes out perfect with the stone just above your wraps on the shank but if you use the same size stone and try to make it in a 9 or larger you end up with the stone sitting a long ways from the wraps and to fix it so the stone is closer to the wraps your ring just looked bad. A lot of people make the ring this way. It’s not wrong it just doesn’t look right to me.
So I went on a quest to find someone that had the same opinion of the ring design as I did and I found him. Rickie at Wire Creations. He figured out how to make the adjustment in the wraps according to the size of the stone. No matter what size you want the ring to be you use the same spacing and start the ring at the same place on your mandrel. Now I could tell you how to do all that but since I bought the tutorial from Rickie and he doesn’t supply it to you as a pdf but instead as an exe file and in order to look at it you have to use the password he supplies you with. And I do mean you have to use the password every time you look at it so you will need to go to his website, Wire Creations and purchase the tutorial for the Cabochon Ring.
Anyway I had finally found someone that explained the ring to me and I actually understood what he was saying. I also purchased his Dome Ring tutorial.
Here are some photos of some of the rings I made from his tutorial. I worked on that Dome ring over and over again in brass wire because I just couldn’t get it right. I didn’t have a problem with this really simple but great looking ring I just messed it up over and over again when I would make the crossing wraps on the top. I finally figured out that I needed to line the first and inside wire that I cross with the mark on the shank of the ring that marks the center of the wires. Once I did that, and it came to me in the middle of the night, I made the ring with ease and it looks like Rickie’s ring.
I bought some big marquise cut crystals with the thought of making some rings with them but they have just sat in my drawers until today. This picture shows you what I came up with. I started with the classic cabochon ring and then crossed two wires across the stone and tucked them under. It was super simple and super quick to make. What do you think of the blue crystal ring I’m wearing on my pinky? Not really a pinky ring but I can’t get it on a different finger.
Next to the marquise ring is my cabochon ring following Rickie’s directions. Comes out perfect every time.
The copper ring is from a tutorial I found on making a ring from a copper pipe. I wanted to give this a try and so I went to the hardware store and bought two sizes of pipe, bought an Imp cutter, a small tool used to cut smaller diameter pipes. I decided how wide to make the ring and got to work with the cutter. Cut like butter and all I had to do was file the edges smooth. Trouble is you are limited to the size pipe you have.
The last ring I was just playing with a piece of 18 gauge round silver wire and where the ends meet at the bottom of the shank I simply wrapped the ends of the wire around the shank and filed the edges smooth and made the two bends at the top.
I always like to get other’s opinions of my work so let me know what you think of these five rings.
Kris.
Check out this scrapbooking site. Fantastic
Scrapbook Layout Ideas
Musings from Kris
31 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in eReaders, Jewelry, Tools, Tutorial Tags: article, color, eReader, handmade, Jewelry, jewelry business, kl jewelry design, kljewelrydesign, tools, touch
This weekend I picked up my Kobo eReader to look at an e-book on wire work. Not anything unusual there. I looked at the cover of my Kobo like I always do and it said it was powered off; I turned it on and let it do its thing while did something else. I picked up my Kobo and guess what. The screen had cracked and you could see ob ad and that was it. Drat!! I’m always careful with the Kobo to prevent it from having this exact same thing from happening. I always kept it in the case even when I was uploading items to it or charging it.
All I could think about was now I only had my desktop computer to view my ebooks and tutorials. Double drat! I picked up my droid phone and started researching another eReader. Some of the items I was looking for were:
- a color screen
- touch screen
- reads pdf or epub
- larger screen
- color screen, did I say that before? I can’t stress how important this was to me since I do chain maille and some well most of the lessons show different color rings
- internet would be nice
- easy to charge
- easy to figure out
- easy to use
Those were the list of what I was looking for. Number one was the color. Like I said a lot of ebooks on chainmaille show the pattern using different colors of rings to you can follow what they are doing. Anyway in case you didn’t know it there are hundreds of ereaders and thousands of reviews for each one.
I narrowed my choices down by my list of wants and then by ease of use. What I came up with was the new Kobo touch, the Pandigital Novel 7″, and the Cruz. I compared them side by side and the Kobo touch was quickly eliminated because it is still black and white and it was a preorder so it hasn’t been released yet. Then I dug into the PDN white and the Cruz and eliminated the Cruz leaving just the PDN white.
I got my PDN white at Radio Shack for just $119 that’s a great sale price since it’s usually $199. What I like about my PDN white is:
- color screen
- touch screen
- external SD card slot
- charger included
- USB cable included
- plug and play not a lot of setup to start using
- easy to transfer files from my computer to my PDN
- android system like my phone
- android apps can be used on the PDN
Some of the little things that bother me are:
- it is heavy compared to other eReaders
- loads some files slowly
- I have so far found that three pdf files do not work. The photos are not loaded with the pdf. This will take some research to fix this.
- it lost the internet connection last night and I had to reinstall it today
- no stores locally sell a hard case for the PDN white so I have to order it
- no stores locally sell the screen covers for the PDN white so I have to order them
That’s not much to be cons for this machine. It is first and foremost an eReader but also works like a tablet with all the apps, office programs, internet and everything else it does that I haven’t even begun to use. Oh yes you can also watch videos, listen to music, get your email, and upload photos and themes to personalize your Pandigital Novel 7″. Love this and highly recommend getting it.
Musings from Kris
28 May 2011 2 Comments
in Jewelry, Tools, Uncategorized Tags: artisan, designer, handmade, kl jewelry design, kljewelrydesign, mesh, tools, wire, wyr knittr
This week I went out shopping at my local bead stores because I wanted to do some wire work with Artistic wire.
A while ago I bought the Lazee Daizee viking knit tool kit and it came with copper wire. I haven’t played around much with it but I will be today.
What I wanted to talk about today was the Wyr Knittr. I read a ton of really bad reviews about this tool but when I came across it in one of the stores I picked it up to give it a try. I found the little instructions that came with the tool easy to read but the photos are not much help and I happen to be one of those people who rarely reads the instructions because I look at the pictures. If I can’t figure it out by the photos then I read.
Anyway I ended up going to their website and they have much better instructions for using the Wyr Knittr.
The first time I tried to use it the stitches just wrapped around the hooks. I searched the website and found this information and thought yep that’s what I’m doing wrong.
Q. My knitted wire gets bunched up around the top of the Knittr! What am I doing wrong? (This happens only if you have a Wyr Knittr with one clip.) Mine came with three but I was only using one.
A1. Pull down gently but firmly on the nose of the clip that’s holding the wire more often.
A2. The weighted clip may not be hanging freely. Be sure that it does not rest on the table and there is weight on the wire coming out of the machine.
A3. The stitches being knitted are not falling below the latches. Make sure you push EACH STITCH below the latch (see close-up of instructions) or the wire will not knit properly.
A4. It could be that your wire broke around the needles while you were knitting. Look down the tube to see if this has happened and, if so it would be best to just start again.
A5. If you are using 28-gauge wire, you will need to pull down a bit more often since this wire is thicker and less resilient.
Okay so thanks that makes a little more sense, but when I tried it I found that the stitch on the hook didn’t drop below the clasp so I had to find out about that and what to do. Here’s what I found out, if it doesn’t go below you clasp on your hook you have to push it down. No other solution for that problem and I had to push it down on every single stitch.
Push down stitch
I started using the Wyr Knittr but I quickly found that holding the wire in one hand and not putting tension on it, turning the handle with the other while holding onto the Wyr Knittr, pushing down each stitch and making sure I didn’t bump the weights and cause them to fall off was just too much to do. I don’t know about you but I was only born with two hands and even though all moms learn how to multi-task and do things that used to take two hands with only one because the other is holding the child, I still couldn’t do all this.
So when my husband, Steve, got home from work I told him about what problems I was having and the looked around my studio work bench and said, “If you have a dowel that will fit the spool of wire you could put the dowel in your vise and drop the spool on that. Then you wouldn’t have to hold the wire and your hands would be free.” Genius, I knew there was a reason why I’ve kept him around for 32 years.
This morning when I got to my studio I got out one of my dowels and put it in the vise, dropped the spool of wire on it and just looked at it and the Wyr Knittr. I was thinking okay I don’t have to hold the wire but I still have to turn the handle, push the stitch down, hold the Wyr Knittr, and not bump the weights causing them to fall off. Still too many things with only two hands.
I have figured out what to do with it and here is what I did. I got out the clamp I use to hold my rotary cutter when I am making jump rings, placed my vise on one side of my bench and the Wyr Knittr on the other side; I angled the Wyr Knittr so that the handle was free to rotate and the wire could drop through the center without restriction. Now all I had to do was guide the wire with one hand and turn the handle with the other. As I said before with every stitch I had to push the stitch down but found I simply turned the handle, pushed the stitch down, and turned the handle. While I would rather that I didn’t have to push the stitch down each time I found it was easy and quick to do.
I did have a problem of the wire breaking. I was using the wire that came with the Wyr Knittr and the only thing I found on their website was that it breaks when you are using too thin of a wire. What I did was when it broke at the beginning I just kept going and cut it off when I finished, but when it broke in the middle I had to quit and I ended up with a shorter piece than I wanted. Since I work a lot with wire I know that sometime I’ll need a smaller piece of this and I will get it out of my scraps and use it so it’s not a waste.
Now it was just like it should be and I was free to stuff beads into the mesh or coil it or do just about anything with it. I decided to draw it down using my Lazee Daizee Viking Knit draw plate. I pulled the mesh through the draw plate drawing it through a smaller and smaller hole. I ended up with a slightly longer piece of mesh than I started with but what was the best is that is looks like a chain. It’s very flexible and just beautiful. I can’t wait to use this tool with all the colors of 30 gauge wire I have and see what it looks like.
For what it’s worth I would recommend this tool. It’s so much easier than actually knitting wire in the round and what you end up with is so versatile you are sure to come up with thousands of ideas for your designs.
Here are some photos of my Wyr Knittr set up and the mesh I ended up with.
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KL Jewelry Design
