Author: Caryn

Wood crochet hooks

On By CarynIn Craft

I have discovered a new method for making wood crochet hooks that I quite like. I flatten the middle of a dowel using a spindle sander, and flatten the end perpendicular to the middle with a band sander. This sets up the grip and the head of the hook at a comfortable angle. I then thin the neck to the size hook I need, and shape the head.

Stages of crochet hook shaping

The bulk of the work goes into hand sanding the final shape. I use sandpaper rolled into tight tubes to access the inside of the hook, and flat sandpaper to smooth the outside shapes. I then use several grades of sandpaper until I’m down to 600 grit.

Hand-sanded crochet hook (left), raw shape (right)

I’m teaching an amigurumi class that uses blanket yarn to make marshmallow animals. The blanket yarn calls for a larger hook than is in most hook sets, so I’m making the hooks the students will use. The next step is to finish and make them nice and shiny so they slide through the yarn loops.

Ten hand sanded crochet hooks, unfinished

Earing

On By CarynIn Cats
Izzy and Thor earing each other

Thor the kitten took a toy mouse up on the bed to play, and Izzy the cat heard the commotion and jumped up to investigate. They both then had to lay down and pretend the other didn’t exist, but I can see them earing each other. No, not earring, Spellcheck, ear-ing, verb, to point ears at another, not admitting existence, but keeping under audio observation. Very cat behavior. Should be a word.

Cicada nymph

On By CarynIn Wildlife

I went behind the coop at dusk and saw something new: a cicada nymph crawling up the corner. I have seen adult cicadas, and the nymph shells left behind, but never one on the move. It was a cool thing to watch. (Yes, I did a short video.) The next morning I saw the adult out of its nymph form.

Adult cicada next to the nymph shell

Scrat

On By CarynIn Wildlife

My eldest’s friend thought that the half-tailed squirrel that begs food at the window should have a name, so he is now “Scrat”.

Scrat the squirrel begging food at the window

It is a sure sign that the squirrel feeder is empty if he is looking in the house. We can usually tell he is there before we see him because all the cats and dogs inside go on alert. Brave squirrel.

Tough Resin

On By CarynIn Craft

I have been collaborating with a local 3D printer, X of All Trades, to design a spindle that can be used as a supported spindle or a drop spindle, adjustable weight, and a body which acts like a nostepinne to make center pull balls as you spin. The challenge has been the narrow neck breaking, so we have been experimenting different materials. The last round of prints using bottle plastic looked promising, but the filament printing isn’t precise, and tended to bubble and create rough edges. Then they found Tough Resin. 3D printed resin can make much more precise and smooth objects, but tends to be brittle, as I found out on our first printed rounds. Tough Resin fixes the brittleness and with some tweaking of the head and neck of my model, X of All Trades has printed a lovely tool that so far has not shattered when dropped.

Rough filament printed spindles (left) Smooth tough resin printed spindles (right)

I couldn’t wait long to test the spindle. I was pleased that it still spins well with the head changes, and I really like the black resin, which has a prismatic effect along the print lines.

Spinning with the new 3D printed spindle

I have put in an order for a small production run, which is quite exciting.