Necessity is the Mother of a New Skill
by Zoraida.
(Zoraida Jewelry)
A recent birds' nest pendant on my Viking Knit chain
I’ve always loved pendants. In fact, all of my necklace designs start in the middle, (with the pendant focal), and work themselves out to the sides. Strangely, I wasn’t even aware of my tendency to design this way.
I became suspicious when I purchased some fabulous beads at a show but couldn’t figure out what to do with them. I finally realized why I felt stuck. I needed to create the focal first. Once that is done, the rest of the design flows easily for me. My almost obsessive need for symmetry and balance makes creating the necklace so much easier this way.
A new option for my Tree of Life pendant
Getting back to pendants, I’ve avoided making them as a complete piece of jewelry, always turning them into an entire necklace. It just didn’t make sense to me to make (and sell) a pendant without something to hang it from. Of course, a customer could always buy a chain, ribbon, cord or strand of beads to suspend them from, but I suspect that many people hold on to a pendant for a good while until they figure out what to put it on.
Viking Knit Bracelet with bronze wire core
I tried neck wires, but they are so stiff and not everyone finds them comfortable or attractive. I’ve made linked chain, but that is so very tedious and sometimes boring. Although cords and ribbon are beautiful alternatives, they didn’t feel substantial or durable enough for me.
My first chain was too short so I added links
I finally decided to, either try chainmaille (talk about tedious with all those jump rings), or learn Viking Knit. I chose the Viking Knit. It’s intricate, lightweight, looks great in any metal and is relatively unobtrusive in a design.
One of the crosses that started it all
I’m still very new at this, but the simple, single knit was so much easier than I expected that I’m quickly gaining confidence. Now I can concentrate on creating pendants without always creating a necklace. I learned to create a simple bracelet as well with a 16g bronze wire inserted through the tube to strengthen and stiffen it.
The pendant needing a chain
I owe this venture into Viking Knit to the lady who purchased three crosses from me and asked “what do I hang these from?” Now I can offer a nice chain to go with any pendant.
zoraida
Zoraidajewelry.com
