It couldn't be easier

It sounds pretty pathetic, I know. I've crocheted with fabric, leather, plastic, cord but never, never with wire. I'm certainly not proud of the fact and this is going to be the year that I change that. I'm planning classes and to that end I'm organising my in-house personal training!!

I wonder if I'll be looking like these hands of Joan Dulla!

Now to begin - there are obviously groaning bookshelves of how-to guides but while I'm at the computer there are tons and tons of helpful sites. Here's a selection of a few I like the look of and some that come with recommendations.

Let's start with supplies. The raw materials are pretty easy to source but here's a word for the 'yarn'. Artistic Wire has luscious colours and choice beyond a crochet girl's dreams. For findings, I've discovered that Etsy, once again, has alot of choice and many designers have handmade items. The best of those I've explored are

Milena S and a nice list on Craftystylish (have I already said how many nice things are on Craftystylish????).

Stitch Diva, bless her heart, has tutorials and gives a warning to delicate hands and precious hooks. Best advise - don't use without alot of preparation and keep your favourite hooks for less extreme conditions!!! Steel or aluminium only!

'How to' with Wire sounds a sensible suggestion and gives some funny insights into do's and don'ts. Nice tips like 'wire stretches', 'wire shrinks' which you might not be aware of. Well, I wasn't anyway.

Craftystylish, as always, has some nice articles and also some tips on wire choice. Ooo, it doesn't sound as straightforward as buying a nice colour!!!

Craftypod gives some simple tutorials and directions on crocheting a wire flower.

Will I ever be able to aspire to the type of work you see here from Louise Hill (designer). Beautiful.

If all this makes you feel a bit lightheaded and your fingers are feeling tired just looking at all that wire then sit back and enjoy the wooly jewellery makers.

Gitte is a designer that chaincreative spotted before and we love her fresh, floral style in this daisy chain necklace. The felting technique offers texture and structure. There's nothing worse than floppy jewels!!

At the moment I'm loving Irregular Expressions on Etsy and particularly the ethnic origins of this beautiful neck-piece.

Simply for the variety of everything crochet and embellishment you cannot find a more prolific designer than Hedda Vatter from Estonia so go check out her Etsy shop. You'll find these earrings there.