Going crazy over wire knit

It's not new that I am addicted to knitting with wire. Of course I am just as addicted to wire crochet and bead looming, but a while ago I had to grab a little bag with cabochons and start experimenting with wire knit again.
The beginning is usually the same. I take my crochet hook and knit a bezel for a cabochon. I could just as well crochet one, but the knit stitches are easier to shape around cabs and more open which also makes it easier to add something to the bezel.


Let me show you the different variations I have come up with lately.

For this pendant I used a cab and tiny smoky quartz beads.

I started knitting onto the top row of the bezel using a little bead in each stitch for three rows, then I fixed this part to the bottom row of the bezel and added an extra row for safety.

That way I could open up the stitches around the quartz beads to make it look as if they are almost floating around the center.
It is available here.

This pendant is completely different. I called it pillow pendant because the setting feels like a pillow if you squish it. That is the result of three disks added to the cab's bezel. If you look close, you can see the one in the middle peeking through because it's a gunmetal color. By crocheting all of the disks together on top you get this bowl-like look with the cab sitting in the depths.
You can find it here.

In this case I also used tiny beads, seed beads this time. As you can tell they are worked right into the knit bezel, however, and there is more than one in each stitch which makes this a very tight looking bezel. I did that because I liked the contrast between the dark hematite rock and the bright wire and beads.
If you want to see more pictures, you can do so here.

I really had fun with this little piece. It was my second attempt to put two cabs into one setting and keep both of them there without one slipping or sliding.
A flat little black agate is sitting on top of a howlite cab. It's not glued or stuck on there, it's simply held by the tension of the bezel. I manipulated the stitches on the howlite to let it shine through better and make the setting more fun, but added a very tight row on top to keep the agate in place. I was really happy how well that worked out!
The pendant is in my Zibbet shop now.

Last but not least I have one my own favorite pieces to show.
This is a beautiful stone and I wanted to give it a simple yet bold setting. What do you say, did it work?
You can find this pendant here.

Ok, that was a lot, thank you for your patience! Isn't it fascinating, though, how much you can do just with a bit of wire and a crochet hook?
And if you thought that was much just wait for next time when I will talk about the HeatherCats again ;-)