amigo i did some poking about the internet and found out that more turns = lower freq. less turns = higher freq. and higher resistance has the effect of reducing the supply current (osc only)
i found this and and bunch more info here
1.5 VOLT WHITE AND UV LED DRIVE CIRCUIT
he even used a rusty nail and cat5 wire for an inductor... i love it!

on getting your circuit to self oscillate, i really don't know squat about circuit design but could you charge a cap similar to this to get the emitter-base junction to conduct?
Simplest_LED_Flasher_Circuit
it's probably not possible but i don't know any better so i gotta ask

adam ant, thanks for the tips. i try to scavenge stuff if i can, something about taking something and recycling it for more than it was worth appeals to me. i snagged a couple of LED's from an old unused keyboard