Winding Up & Down

On Wednesday I learnt a new thing that I thought you might like to have a go at. It was an all over the place kind of day. First thing I took the Bun's to work with me and then put them into Mr Bun's meeting so I could get on. After that he took them to a museum while I was at another museum with my students. When I finished I met them and he went off to sort some more workstuff out. Then we met him again to save him catching the slow bus home. Up and down madness, but it seems to be working out ok for now. In the middle of all this we learnt how to make twisty things.

A dressed up medieval lady was twisting some wool onto card in the castle and it grabbed the attention of two of my students. It can be really hard trying to find something that floats their boat so I do a mental lap of honour when they show the slightest bit of interest in something. 

I didn't have a chance to try it out then so they taught me how to the next day and boy is it addictive. Relaxing and addictive. I'm not sure what the cords you end up making are called. They'll definately have a name as they were originally made to tie armour together. We chose to make them into friendship bands and all have one now including grandma.

All you need to do is chop up a square or circle of card. Cut 8 slits all the way around and jab a hole in the middle.

Next choose your yarn. You will need 7 threads so you can work out your colours however you wish.

Cut the threads all the same length and long enough to tie together at the end and generously wrap round your wrist after tying both ends together.

Push the knotted end through the middle of the card and then pull each thread through seven of the slits. 

To start making your cord is very simple. Count three threads down from the empty slit (either to the left or the right, but stick to this direction once you've chosen it or it won't work) and then move this thread up into the empty slit, pulling tightly down. Carry on doing this until a cord starts to appear underneath your card.

It should look like this. Once you have a cord growing, make sure you pull it gently every now and again and rub the threads together.

Quite quickly a long enough cord will grow and then it's time to measure against your wrist. If it's long enough, then pull all the threads off the card and knot all seven together the same as at the beginning. Wrap around your wrist and knot together. Make sure it's loose enough to roll over your hand if you want to take it off as it doesn't stretch.

The Bun's are loving making these, especially as they're so easy to do anywhere.