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What’s the best wire to start with?
The one feeling like yarn
In my humble opinion (but I’m far from knowing everything about wire!) the best wire to start crocheting jewellery is the one that looks and feels a little bit like yarn, so it won’t feel very different from traditional crochet and those skills can be gradually adapted to the new material. Therefore, the smaller the gauge is and the more malleable the metal feels, easier the task becomes. Then, as we practice and gain experience, we can move on to harder metals and larger gauges, knowing that they won’t bend as easily and that they’ll break more frequently.
Nickel-free
It’s also wise to use nickel-free wire. I’ve already said it in previous posts, but I have to underline this once more: the most frequent jewellery allergy, contact dermatitis, is caused by nickel. One of the reasons for this is the fact that nickel is present in many metals that were commonly used to make jewellery (even gold can contain nickel). Nowadays, there are laws protecting consumers from this health risk and limiting the degree of exposure, but if you are going to make your own jewellery or pieces to offer your loved ones, it’s up to you to have this in consideration and take the necessary precautions.
Enamelled copper wire
I don’t know all the metals and I haven’t tried yet all those fitting jewellery purposes. I still have a lot to explore. But as recent as my wire crocheting experience is, I can tell our readers that enamelled copper wire has all the necessary qualities to start crocheting beautiful, delicate, light, nickel-free, resistant, durable and low-cost jewellery pieces. It’s very malleable, flexible and when we work with the smaller wire gauges it feels so much like thread that we forget we are working with metal!
So, at this early stage, the crocheted wire jewellery projects we will present on the blog will be made with 0,200mm (SWG*=35/AWG**=32 approximately) enamelled copper wire or enamelled silver plated copper wire. We will also use larger gauges, usually between 0,700mm and 0,900mm, to create some handmade finishings to complete the crocheted elements. I can only hope you’ll enjoy this material as much as I do!
*SWG – Standard Wire Gauge
**AWG – American Wire Gauge
Technorati Tags: Bijouterie, bijouterie crochetée, bijutaria, bijuteria, craft wire, croché, Crochet, crocheted jewellery, jewellery making
Tags: Bijouterie, bijouterie crochetée, bijutaria, bijuteria, craft wire, croché, Crochet, crocheted jewellery, jewellery making
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