The strangest fiber I’ve knit with so far? Candy laces from IKEA. But then I saw knitted fairy lights in my Twitter feed, so I had to try it.
I wanted to knit a ribbon of light for my Christmas wreath. I used an e-loop cast on (too hard to work long tail cast on with wire) and cast on 5 stitches using US size 9 needles. Why size 9? I want the needles to stay in the project, and my straight needles were too long! These are the biggest dpns I have that I don’t care about scratching with wire. I wasn’t ready to sacrifice my ebony needles. Stitches have to be pretty loose on the needle so you can get your other needle into the stitch; wire is not stretchy like wool.
I’d really like a longer ribbon, but the product description online was inaccurate, so I have two strands this length instead of one long one. Here’s the first set! 32 feet/100 LED lights. I may make a little bow with the second set, and see if I can hide a second battery box behind the wreath somehow. You have to decide if you’re casting on from the battery box end, or the far end. I used the far end because I wanted to end with my needles near the battery pack so I could tuck it near the top of the wreath.
Action shot! The lights are programmable to be steady, twinkle, or six other patterns.
After this bit of fun, I went looking for the original source for this idea, and it’s from @leila_raven on Instagram. She actually has instructions with needle sizes and cast on numbers for a knitted swatch. I didn’t realize there would be instructions, so I just cast on and ran with it. It couldn’t be harder than knitting with candy laces, right?
Happy holidays!
PDXKnitterati 
Wow !! – bet it wasn’t cheap.
It IS pretty but. Very. 🙂
Well, cheap is relative, but this is actually pretty cheap! My lights cost $12 USD. And there were two of these short sets. I just ordered a longer set for $16 USD. Not too much money for a really pretty project! You could make a wall hanging…hiding that bulky 3AAA battery box might be a quite a trick though. There are USB lights, but I don’t have a USB port outside my house. There are also solar lights, but the sun doesn’t hit my porch, either. Anyhoo, have fun!
Your creativity is always around somewhere !!!
Oh wow! That’s wild!
Really easy, and fun! Of course you want to turn the lights on before you knit. First of all, to check that they work! Kind of like putting up lights on your house, or Christmas tree. And then leave them on for the knitting, because it’s pretty!
Very cool and pretty! You’ve outdone yourself!
It’s not hard, and not my idea, but fun even if it’s a bit fidgety!
I did not like my first attempt at knitting with wire- but in this case the results might be worth it. Wowza!
On big needles, it doesn’t take much time! It’s fun to knit with the lights on, and the results are spectacular. Go for it!
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Wow that’s different, I have never seen anything like that before, thank you for sharing this post.
You’re so welcome! I hope you try it; it’s pretty and fun. I have more to knit, after this weekend. And ideas!
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It turned out beautiful!
So glad I spotted this. Looks so fun!
It really *is* fun! I have more to do…
I have LOTS of those. Maybe I’ll knit a sculpture after Christmas.