Is Wire Weaving a Knit Stitch?

Over at another blog there's an analysis of a wire craft known variously as Viking wire weaving, Viking wire knitting, and Trichinopoly.  This esoteric hobby is the subject of ongoing debates among its practitioners about how historic examples of this craft were constructed and which name is appropriate (or least inappropriate).

As someone who teaches this craft at SCA events I've spotted technical problems with the available analysis.  A very patient friend has watched me clog her Facebook posts with comments when she shares links on the subject so it's probably time to blog.  This will be a long post.

First question: is this craft a knit?

For simplicity this post refers to Viking wire weaving even though this is not a weave and the craft is not specific to the Vikings.  All of the existing names for the craft are contested.

The other blog contrasted two diagrams to conclude that Viking wire weaving is structurally distinct from knitting.

Here's a diagram for regular knitting:
(credit: Bastianowa, CC-by-sa 2.5)

Here's a diagram for Viking wire weaving:
(credit: Eirny)

In the opinion of some wire weaving crafters this sets wire weaving apart from knitting on a structural level.

Actually what those two diagrams do is contrast a wire weaving stitch against the stockinette stitch.  Knitting has a great variety of stitches, another of which is known as the plaited stitch or plaited stockinette stitch.

Here's a photograph of a plaited stitch:
(Credit: WillowW, CC-by 3.0)

The plaited stitch is not a common stitch in knitting because the fabric it produces is less pliant than stockinette, but the plaited stitch is very easy to replicate--beginning knitters make it accidentally by picking up a stitch from the wrong side of the needle when they try to create the stockinette stitch.  A knitting guide by Mary Thomas explains the plaited stitch in detail.

So no, wire weaving is not distinguishable from knitting on the basis of stitch structure.  A more complicated argument could be put forth about advanced stitches but the conclusion would be the same: it is possible to generate the equivalent of a double stitch or a triple stitch in knitting, and although that might require advanced skills on needles it is relatively easy to accomplish on a knitting spool: just wrap the fiber one or two extra times before completing a stitch.

The difference is not of structure but of technique: knitting adds new stitches to the top of existing stitches, which allows for long stretches of continuous fiber but makes an item prone to unravel; wire weaving (at least in its modern practice) uses a construction technique akin to nalebinding in that it adds new stitches to the bottom of existing stitches, which avoids the problem of unraveling but requires that every stitch be completely pulled through.  The next post will examine nalebinding in greater detail.