Viking Knit - the process

Today I started on weaving some Viking knit to make a bracelet. I love making Viking knit. The constant flow of sterling wire through my hands feels so organic and the repetition of the weaving process is really soothing to me.

My client for this bracelet wants a fairly substantial weaving, to make a heavy, dense bracelet. So, I start by making a flower of sorts with sterling wire, making 6 petals, or loops. I tape the loops on a wooden dowel and start my weaving process through the ends of each loop.

Before I knew it, I had spent about 6 hours weaving!
I removed the weaving from the dowel, leaving me with a hollow tube of messy looking sterling wire. I think it looks similar to a peeled corn cob!

Then I finished off the ends and tucked them inside of the hollow weave. No sharp ends allowed in my Viking Knit. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to that.

Later this week, I will show you how I pull the hollow weave through a draw plate of holes, compressing the weave into finished Viking Knit!