Working with wire brings a whole new dimension to your crochet - quite literally! It means that you can make not only interesting household items like napkin rings, tea-light covers and even lampshades (really - see picture to the left!) but you can also produce some lovely pieces of jewelry.

Wire can be readily bought from craft stores and online. It is best to use 'craft' or coated copper wires, or if you're feeling a bit flush then there's always the option for pure silver or even gold!

When working with wire you don't need any special equipment, although I would suggest not using your brand new bamboo hooks! I keep a look out in charity stores and jumble sales for old crochet hooks and other useful items. I also keep my wire crochet hooks separate from my yarn ones, this is because I don't want any nicks in my wire working hooks from catching on any fine yarns I might be working with. However saying that I know other people who use a single hook for everything and never have any trouble!

One of the key differences between wire and yarn is the fact that wire has no 'give' and therefore it is best not to crochet too tightly. On the plus side it holds its shape well and of course does not stretch or shrink. It is not always easy to unpick and rework wire, and sometimes this can make the wire hard and brittle so it is best to discard 'work hardened' wire and start with a new piece. This can be joined the same way as you would join in yarn at the end of the row.

How to buy wire
When buying wire, where possible buy spools or reels rather than coils (wire reeled onto the equivalent of a cotton reel). A coil of wire will tangle as it tries to unwind (think slinky toy), a spool is wound around a reel and is easier to keep under control. When you come to buy wire the thickness is either likely to be defined by AWG or millimetres or maybe both. If in doubt ask your supplier for advice.


Thinner wires are the easiest to work with. Anything between AWG 32 and AWG 24. I know people who work with thicker wires - and thinner wires, however these work well for me. Sometimes it can be hard to crochet with the thicker wires and as such it is perfectly acceptable to use two thinner strands together. This gives the thickness and strength of the thicker wires whist still providing the flexibility of the finer wires.

The table below gives the AWG and the metric equivalent. Don't worry too much about the decimal places - this is just to give you an indication on the thickness of different gauge wires.

American Wire Gauge		Metric equivalent
33		.18mm
32		.2mm
31		.22mm
30		.25mm
29		.29mm
28		.32mm
27		.36mm
26		.4mm
25		.45mm
24		.51mm
23		.57mm
22		.64mm
21		.72mm
20		.81mm
19		.91mm
18		1.02mm

* The lampshade above was crocheted in pieces using .2mm wire, yarn and crystal beads. Examples of my own crochet with wire can be seen on my website here

Do let me know if you would like more information about working with wire or some projects to work on or have any questions.

I'd be really interested to hear about your experiences of working with wire - or other different crochet materials. Pop over to the forum or send me an email!




Other reading: 'Twist and Loop' by Annie Modesitt which covers a range of wire projects is available from Amazon here. The Nancy Wiseman 'Crochet with Wire' book is also available at Amazon here