J is for Jewellery (or Jewelry)

I'm not a huge wearer of jewellery myself. Just an occasional low key necklace or bracelet and I do have my ears pierced but rarely can be bothered changing earrings. Chunky and large is so not me. Even my wedding and engagement rings are so low key as to be almost not noticeable. But I am a huge admirer of those who can and do wear jewellery well. My eldest daughter adds jewellery to almost every outfit as that finishing touch, and has a fantastic collection of quirky pieces none of them particularly expensive. My sister is a master of the chunky necklace that pushes a simple outfit into that impeccably styled one. My baby sister (yes, I know you'll yell at me, but you will forever be the baby however old you get) has a pair of earrings for every day of the year at least and is still expanding the collection.

This post is a tribute to those crafts-people who specialise in elevating knitting to an art form through their use of it a a technique in jewellery design. I'm in awe of their imagination and skill level. And most of this I would wear in a heartbeat (if I could afford it!)

I love how this is almost knitted chain mail

By Pristine Smut, a pair of designers who have combined their talents to create beautifully designed knitwear jewelry. Liria Pristine, knitwear designer and Rosie Kent who creates the jewels and metalwork.

“Berry Sprig Necklace,” 2010, knitted silver, carnelian, diamonds.

By Carla Reiter. Knitted metal (Blackened Silver here) and non precious stones or copper as jewels. She even had a necklace featured on Gossip Girl.

Both from the Pixels Collection by Elinor Voytal. She graduated from Bucks university with a first class degree in Knitted textiles. (Wait, you can do a degree in Knitting!?) The knitted portions are machine knitted viscose and silk. She uses pixelated versions of her own photography to inspire the colour combinations.

By a French Designer, Cecile Bertrand. She also makes some gorgeous textile jewellery using fabric covered buttons and labels.

This next designer's work I covet and could afford! Thanks to the Knitty blog for first introducing me to her work.

Thistle - Charcoal

Thorn - charcoal

Asp - wine

Crown - Black

Butterfly - Jade

Gold necklaces - Olympics 2012

All these are by Amy Lawrence. The knitted portions are all made on an antique Italian Knitting machine. There are some great pictures of it on her webpage.

If your interested in more achievable knit and crochet jewellery, I have a pinterest board you might like to follow. (Now I just need to update it with the photos in this blog post).

I've had one small foray into making my own handmade knitted / crocheted jewellery. Admittedly this is more crochet and macramé than knitting. Read the full story here: My grandmother's button collection. But I'm inspired to do more.

There is one piece of jewellery I wear whenever I wish I could be knitting instead of working, my handmade knitting needle bracelets. I can look down and think of knitting and it soothes my soul.