On the eighth day of Craftsmas our DIY will be:

• knit wire earrings,

• serving spoons a-beaded (here!),

• tassled throws a-tasslin’ (here!),

• a POM POM GARLAAAAAAND! (here!)

• crocheted baskets basking (here!),

• floral hoops (here!),

• gold feather earrings (here!), and

• a warm, chunky arm-knit blankie (here!)

This post is a first on the little onion- my very first guest post! So I’d like to give a big, warm welcome to Jen, who makes these awesome earrings and also wrote up the tutorial to share with you AND save my sanity after 7 days straight of writing how-to posts.

I work with sweet Jen (she’s a petrophysicist, and a brilliant one) so naturally we share a love of rocks and oil- but we are also both avid knitters! It’s so fun to have someone at the office who shares this hobby with me because that’s pretty rare in oil & gas.

Jen made earrings for all of the women at the office and I love mine so much that I asked her to write up a pattern and share it with my mom readers! She even made a pair for me to give away. Isn’t Jen the best??This pattern is for rectangular earrings, but you could adapt this to knit any shape you desire. My pair is leaf-shaped and I’ve gotten so many compliments on them!

Without further ado, here is Jen’s pattern:

Materials:

• 32 Gauge wire – I used gold from Hobby Lobby

• Size 9 knitting needles

• 2 jump rings

• 2 earring hooks

• Wire cutters or scissors

• Needle nose pliers - these are not essential but I had them handy.

• Ribbon for a bow

Tips:

• The wire comes wrapped tight in a coil. It is easier to use if you stretch out the wire a bit.  This makes it so you’re not knitting from a slinky.  Other than that you knit the wire just as you would knit with yarn.

• You should knit tightly, so give the wire a tug after each stitch.  After you turn the work before you knit the next row the stitches from the previous row will be snug up against the needle.  It is helpful to use your fingernail and pull these stitches away from the needle so that your other needle can fit into the stitch on the needle for the next row of knitting.  (That is a lot of needling!) It is helpful if you tug on the project after a couple of rows to help give shape to the project (like you’re blocking on the needle).  If the wire curls, crimps or creates a small loop as you are knitting, no problem.  Just knit with the wire as is.  These features add dimension to the final project.

Pattern:

• Cast on 6 stitches – I use the backward loop method.

  • Start with a slip knot. (1st stitch)  Then twist the wire in a counter clockwise motion and put the loop on the needle 5x.  (6 sts)

• Knit 8 rows

• No bind off needed.  Just cut the wire and twist it around the last stitch.    Also twist the leading tail into the work. Needle nose pliers are helpful for this step.

• Now using your fingers and the knitting needle as an awl to give your project its final shaping, pull and tug the piece to stretch it out.  Then use the knitting needle to open up stitches or create a curve where the wire is too straight by inserting the needle vertically through the stitch- like you’re stabbing it.

• Use pliers or fingers to open the jump ring.  Slip through a stitch on the work and then the earring hook. Close jump ring.  Now add your ribbon.  Thread through the 2 stitched below the jump ring.  Tie a bow and enjoy spreading holiday cheer with happy earrings.

Anybody else out there with their mind blown? It never occurred to me to knit with wire, but it looks so cool! A million thanks to Jen for taking over the 8th day of Craftsmas.

Toodles, tlo