Viking knit

Hey hey! Craft magpie alert - want to try something else, does this look like a good tut to follow?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfsyTn9XCsE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

That's a brilliant tutorial. Very clear and easy to copy. Now I see what George was describing when she told us about knitting on an allen key. I use a long piece of dowel myself, just as easy and a bit more portable but I think the vice and allen key looks quicker.

I'm not going to look as I know I'll want to have a go, I'll still bookmark it though.

It's just such a shame it's nasty single knit at the end of it - and not well drawn either. And an awful lot of waffle.....

Yeah he does have some rabbit doesn't he! So apart from the starting off, it's close to a goodun? I'll keel trawling though

Ok I've trawled through a few more, and it looks like a really neat way to do this is to start with another wire and then do some silver off that. Less waste etc.

So my next questions are...
Where to get a good drawplate. Saw a plasticky one for not much money but will it do the job.
What gague of wire?
Also some are doing 4 loops to start off, some 5. What's the benefits / difference in these?

Can't wait to have a go, I need lots of different styles for my exhibition, I have 3 cabinets to fill lol.

Make a drawplate from hardwood. Just drill holes using graduated drill bits. The plastic ones are absolute crap.

Wire gauge is very much up to you. I wouldn't recommend starting with anything much thicker than 0.6mm as it's hard to do. I generally work in 0.5mm and smaller - with most pieces done in 0.4mm.

The number of stitches determines both the thickness of the finished piece and its shape. Four gives a very symmetrical chain, five makes for a beautiful thicker version with more stitches visible. Three is useful for skinny chains, but isn't as aesthetically pleasing.

The definitive book on this is undoubtedly:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Wire-Jewelry-Lark/dp/1600596215/ref=sr_1_2_title_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329993152&sr=1-2

and costs less than a couple of bad tutorials. Forget the chain maille section at the end of the book as it's incomprehensible, but the viking knit, crown sinnet and braiding sections are excellent, with good diagrams and nice photographs of finished pieces.

Ah, thank you my lovely I figured the plastic ones were probably too cheap to be any good!

I have some broken down pallets ready for the tip here, wonder if they'd be hard enough?

Oh that book is in my wish list. Hmm don't think I can resist anymore.

I knit on a wooden dowel Kat and start of by using drawing pins stuck evenly spaced around the top. There's no wastage at all that way.
I'd recommend starting off with 4 loops for ease.
Can you get to B&Q or somewhere similar and get a piece of hardwood floorboard or architrave off-cut?
I think I might have a piece in the garage you can have.

Any particular size of dowel? Or doesn't it matter? I was going to ask if you can make it in front of the telly but I suspect you can.

I saw a thing where she got half of a press-stud stuck on the end of a dowel to start with - but then you'd have to cut through the loops to get it off I guess and that sounds silly.

I have some dowel somewhere, if I haven't taped wet and dry to it all and the shed builders left some wood behind, that has to be hardwood so I'll go dig off a bit but thanks for the offer Gillian - might still take you up on it if this stuff turns out pants!

Vic it looks like the dowel gets clamped down - so if you have a wee table and clamp - unless there is a way of doing it without clamping. Sounds a bit like a juggling act though, that way!

I have only done a few bits of Viking Knitting but stopped using the Alan key and went over to using a cheap biro as a mandrel, the ones that are hexagon shaped after it was recommended on one of the USA sites. I hold it in my non dominate hand and twist it every time I draw a loop through. The twisting just gives enough space to put the wire through.
nan

The main reason for using an allen key is the huge range of sizes available.

Unless you only ever want to make one size and weight of chain of course. Which many people are quite happy with.

I might have a search round hubby's shed for some allen keys, that'll save some pennies.