Croy Wire Chain & Experiments in Wirework

So, I gathered a little more information about the "silver wire ribbon" from the Pictish hoard. For one thing, it is also known as the Croy chain--important, this. Why? Because it gave me another search term that led me to yet more information. I found a quote from 1978 in a 1980 article on the origins of knitting. The quote compared the Croy chain to a similar one found at Ballinaby. I suppose it's worth repeating here:

I find them to be of identical looped structure, made from long lengths of wire, which at first sight strongly resembles stocking stitch. Both are in the form of flattened tubes, that from Croy having 16 'stitches' per round (7 stitches and 6 rows per cm) and that from Ballinaby having 6 'stitches' per round (6-2/3 'stitches' and 7-1/2 rows per cm). Although the fabrics strongly resemble knitting, on examining them under the microscope I found the structure to be different. Whereas in knitting the loops are usually drawn through those of the preceding row, in these cases the loops have been drawn through the two preceding rows...

One frustration I had reading this entire article--which was otherwise fascinating--is that I don't in fact know how to knit. What very little I know about knitting wouldn't lead me to believe it is very similar in technique to the style of trichinopoly I was taught in which one end of the wire is threaded through the loop above and drawn through...whereas knitting seems to involve using a continuous ball of yarn manipulated by knitting needles.

Anyway, the part that really made me raise my eyebrows was the comment that the loops had in this case been drawn through the two preceding rows, not just one row. Because the technique I was taught drew the wire through only the preceding row.

So, of course, nothing would do but to try out the logistics of drawing the wire through the two preceding rows. It seemed...unlikely. But I am ecstatic with the results.

In the close up picture here, you see along the bottom my sample length, only a few inches long. The left half of it uses the technique I first learned, looping through only the immediately preceding row. The right half of the chain switches to looping through the two preceding rows. As you can hopefully make out, it makes it much more tight, more complex-looking, and surprisingly more even-looking as well. I also liked the look of it one draw hole earlier--it had a different look, hard to describe. This size got far enough the have the outside edges of each loop/stitch meet in sort of V. One size larger they hadn't yet met, giving a different effect.

Above is the beginnings of another such piece with more "stitches" around--seven instead of five, I believe. Using the same small stick, this makes it significantly harder. The five stitch around through two rows technique was shockingly easy. Going up to seven stitches is now harder than my original technique. The stitches are so close together that I have to take care with each stitch to go behind only one stitch not it and halfway through its next-door neighbor.

Getting it started was also a pain. I knew I'd have to go only one row up for the first couple rows, but I started in on the back two rows plan as soon as I could--which was too soon. I ended up going back to single-row-back technique for a couple extra rows to stabilize the whole thing before giving it another go. Still, I have high hopes for it turning out in the end. Many imperfections are forgiven once you pull these things through the draw holes!

Next up will be making one that is wider. I got a new wider dowel and just need to cut it down to a manageable size. I don't know how to add more (bigger) holes to my draw board since I didn't make this one to begin with. Maybe one of the guys will know...