weekend project: wool necklace

Friday 15 June 2012


It's well and truly winter now so the knitting needles have resurfaced from the depths of the supplies cupboard. I made this wool and clay necklace using a mix of knitting and knotting techniques. This was the first time I've ventured into the world of knotting and I tell you what, I really liked it there. Knotting is a bit like the linear version of origami, which I'm mildly obsessed with. (Remember this?) I have no idea why I have never explored knotting before.

The tools you need are pretty basic. I couldn't even remember how to cast on so there was heavy reliance on YouTube for this one:

 
1. Follow this tutorial to make the knitted chord. I used five stitches instead of three because I wanted a chunkier chord. I made about 1.8m worth of chord using 4mm wool. Keep about 10cm of loose wool length either side to help you thread through the tube later.
2. Follow this tutorial to make the central knot. The crew that put this video together have some serious spatial intelligence going on so please watch their other tutorials if you have any interest in knotting.  
It is a 7minute tutorial for one knot, but don't be put off, it's easy to follow and is hugely satisfying. I originally made the full knot (see below) but changed my mind, undid the whole necklace and untied the knot to around the 4min point in the video. I'm much happier with the proportions of the half knot.
3. Using the polymer clay, make a small, curved tube. I rolled mine around a 7mm knitting needle to give a smooth, even surface internally. Pop in the oven and cool. This gives the necklace a bit of weight and also stops the rope from unraveling. Plus I love the crispness of the white against the chartreuse.
4. Time to thread the chord through the clay tube. You need to get a bit MacGyver here with the loose ends as it gets pretty tight in the tube. You eventually want to feed the ends through either end of the tube and have about 20cm of loose chord coming out of either side. 
I threaded end A through the tube. I then overlapped ends A and B and twisted together a little to compress. I secured B to A by tying it on with the loose thread. I then pulled end A back the other way, carrying B with it.
5. Wrap the loose ends down the sides of the necklace to create the rope. Once you get to the knotted pendant, tie the two loose ends together at the back.
Weekend time very soon! Looking forward to my next project already.



3 comments:

  1. This is such a cute necklace!! However, I can't find the link on how to make it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The link is the second word in Step No2 ("this")

      Delete

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