Entry for September 25, 2007




Well, I received a few questions about the needles so I thought I would make an extra post with some answers.

Well I am not good at estimating weights and measurements, but I'll try. I'm thinking under 100 grams. Because when I hold a pair of the needles in one hand, and either of these skeins in the other - the needles are slightly lighter.

The way we made them was interesting too. First we conditioned small pieces of polymer (1/2 inch by 1/2 inch is what I used, except I used twice as much of the white) in different colors, (DD used 3 colors, I used 4) flattened them into little pancakes and stacked them. Then twisted them quite a few times. Shaped them into little cubes, then cut thin slices.

Second, we took chopsticks and sanded the ends into points and lightly sanded the rest of them. Then lightly covered them with liquid polymer, to help the clay adhere. Then connected the slices to the sticks, smoothing as much as possible. DD added balls of the same mix to the tops, I used two slices each and made more cylinder type tops - We ran out of time so they don't match as well as I'd like, but they'll do. Then they were baked for 20 minutes while we had dinner.

Our demo instructor said to sand them with a super fine grit, under water. She said that makes for a smoother finish.

I haven't sanded mine yet, so I'll post when I do.