Knit Wear

Oooh! We've been a little quiet lately and didn't provide a post last week - sorry. Last Sunday we were off gallivanting with friends and stuffing ourselves silly on all you can eat buffet breakfasts in South Perth, so the crafting together was postponed to the following Sunday.

Although LD & Veeni didn't get their craft on together, LD did do some solo projects to make up for it. LD had previously come across a bracelet made out of a knitting needle and wanted to give it a go. After some research this How-To looked to be the easiest. Easy, however was not what LD discovered. The thickness of the knitting needles may have been the issue, as they never became malleable enough to bend and stay in shape. After multiple attempts and longer times in the boiling water, LD tossed in the towel.

LD is one stubborn mule though and wasn't willing to be defeated by a few knitting needles, so a couple of days later she went back to the mission. Rather than boiling the needles another time around though, the microwave looked to be a much more pro-active option. Firstly, baking paper was placed in the microwave and the needles placed on top (if those buggers were going to melt to a crisp, there was no way they were taking the microwave with them). After a minute or so you could see that the needles were becoming very bendy, so out they came and they were wrapped around an empty beer bottle (label removed) - Voila! it worked!

Another attempt was made with some children's needles but they didn't look so happy afterwards. The key is definitely to monitor the time and check on them regularly - oops!

Although the boiling water has worked for many people, the microwave seemed much quicker and also prevented the risk of the ends of the needle touching the edge of the pot and melting (as occurred with one of the needles). Another thing to note is that the boiling of the needles appeared to fatten and shorten the needle, as well as discolour them slightly. The microwave however did not do this.