"It's no good for carving. The timber is too old and split for crochet hooks"
Not sure if I should be more concerned about my level of excitement when I spotted the broken broom... or the fact the Mr Goldfish knew exactly what I would want it for!
Showing posts with label carving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carving. Show all posts
Sunday, November 23, 2008
he knows me so well
"I've already checked" said Mr Goldfish
"It's no good for carving. The timber is too old and split for crochet hooks"
Not sure if I should be more concerned about my level of excitement when I spotted the broken broom... or the fact the Mr Goldfish knew exactly what I would want it for!
"It's no good for carving. The timber is too old and split for crochet hooks"
Not sure if I should be more concerned about my level of excitement when I spotted the broken broom... or the fact the Mr Goldfish knew exactly what I would want it for!
Friday, November 14, 2008
guillotine fingers
I felt like swearing in about seventeen different languages... but I settled for a loud, mournful AAAARGHHHHHHH...
which possibly the neighbours heard, since I was working outdoors... but they have been too polite to mention
So - another one bites the dust...
ah well, practice makes perfect
Remember the tunisian hook which my dear friend Dawn made for me? Well we had a play around with it at our crochet meet the other day, and decided that the point of the hook was a bit too long. Which means that you end up working very exaggerated movements to compensate for having to manoeuvre the hook to pull the long tip through the loops. Anyway, modifications were required... but I was told that I could do them myself!
Are you serious???
I could modify the tip myself???
Did you forget that my middle name is 'Guillotine Fingers'???
Well, I decided that the only safe way to tackle this problem was to lock all sharp instruments away, and work only with sand paper. Wow... I was astounded at how easy the dowel was to work with!
See how the head has changed... but is not missing? It also has been given a light coat of oil.
I'm thinking that maybe I need to develop my carving technique using pine dowel first, and then I can advance to sticks. Perhaps I'll just try one more time... just one more...
which possibly the neighbours heard, since I was working outdoors... but they have been too polite to mention
So - another one bites the dust...
ah well, practice makes perfect
Remember the tunisian hook which my dear friend Dawn made for me? Well we had a play around with it at our crochet meet the other day, and decided that the point of the hook was a bit too long. Which means that you end up working very exaggerated movements to compensate for having to manoeuvre the hook to pull the long tip through the loops. Anyway, modifications were required... but I was told that I could do them myself!
Are you serious???
I could modify the tip myself???
Did you forget that my middle name is 'Guillotine Fingers'???
Well, I decided that the only safe way to tackle this problem was to lock all sharp instruments away, and work only with sand paper. Wow... I was astounded at how easy the dowel was to work with!
See how the head has changed... but is not missing? It also has been given a light coat of oil.
I'm thinking that maybe I need to develop my carving technique using pine dowel first, and then I can advance to sticks. Perhaps I'll just try one more time... just one more...
Thursday, November 13, 2008
why not?
The older I get, the more adventurous I become - more willing to try new things, test the boundaries, and experiment!
Instead of asking WHY?... I'm starting to ask WHY NOT?
and discovering that it's a whole lot of fun, too!
In our Crochet Lovers Victoria group, we recently started chatting about hand carved hooks. In the past I've always wondered WHY you would bother going to all the trouble of carving a hook, when they are so readily available?
But not this time... this time I asked myself WHY NOT give it a go???
and I wasn't the only one... in fact, a surprising number of others have joined in the fun
Now, I know you could use dowel for a project like this. We certainly have some odds and ends in the garage here which I could recycle into a hook. But I loved the idea of recycling a gift from nature... and I wanted to carve my hook from a stick.
It started out easily... and I was lulled into a false sense of security...
But carving out the inner side of the hook is much trickier than it looks...
I'm ashamed to admit that there have been several be-headings along the way... the hook (stick) getting shorter and shorter with each one. It was almost like the French Revolution around here... OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!
In fact, I still haven't quite got the whole thing figured out yet... but I'm determined to get there. In the meantime you should take a peek at what some of the other members have achieved.
Stramenda has made this incredible tunisian hook from a long stick she found in her kindling pile... and you MUST click here to see what she made for dinner the other night! Now that's dedication. Yes... she's a little bit mad... but in the most wonderful way!
Happy Peacock made a cable tunisian hook... by inserting an old circular knitting needle INTO the end of her hand-carved hook, and adding a stopper at the other end... take a look
Cat attacked a broom handle to come up with this fine creation
These friends are blowing me away with their work! None of them had attempted anything like this before, and decided to s-t-r-e-t-c-h themselves just a little... they have achieved so much. I'm so incredibly proud of them - and just a teensy bit jealous - but I'll keep trying - of course I can do it - it's not rocket science!
Saving my favourite for last... Dawniedear gave me a fabulous gift yesterday... a tunisian cable hook... which she carved from a piece of dowel, then attached the cable from an old circular knitting needle, with a button as a stopper. Isn't she wonderfully creative? I'm so looking forward to using it!
Instead of asking WHY?... I'm starting to ask WHY NOT?
and discovering that it's a whole lot of fun, too!
In our Crochet Lovers Victoria group, we recently started chatting about hand carved hooks. In the past I've always wondered WHY you would bother going to all the trouble of carving a hook, when they are so readily available?
But not this time... this time I asked myself WHY NOT give it a go???
and I wasn't the only one... in fact, a surprising number of others have joined in the fun
Now, I know you could use dowel for a project like this. We certainly have some odds and ends in the garage here which I could recycle into a hook. But I loved the idea of recycling a gift from nature... and I wanted to carve my hook from a stick.
It started out easily... and I was lulled into a false sense of security...
But carving out the inner side of the hook is much trickier than it looks...
I'm ashamed to admit that there have been several be-headings along the way... the hook (stick) getting shorter and shorter with each one. It was almost like the French Revolution around here... OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!
In fact, I still haven't quite got the whole thing figured out yet... but I'm determined to get there. In the meantime you should take a peek at what some of the other members have achieved.
Stramenda has made this incredible tunisian hook from a long stick she found in her kindling pile... and you MUST click here to see what she made for dinner the other night! Now that's dedication. Yes... she's a little bit mad... but in the most wonderful way!
Happy Peacock made a cable tunisian hook... by inserting an old circular knitting needle INTO the end of her hand-carved hook, and adding a stopper at the other end... take a look
Cat attacked a broom handle to come up with this fine creation
These friends are blowing me away with their work! None of them had attempted anything like this before, and decided to s-t-r-e-t-c-h themselves just a little... they have achieved so much. I'm so incredibly proud of them - and just a teensy bit jealous - but I'll keep trying - of course I can do it - it's not rocket science!
Saving my favourite for last... Dawniedear gave me a fabulous gift yesterday... a tunisian cable hook... which she carved from a piece of dowel, then attached the cable from an old circular knitting needle, with a button as a stopper. Isn't she wonderfully creative? I'm so looking forward to using it!
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