[applegirl]

Hey, That's "Punny!"- Here we have a great thread- about spinning thread!!!!

Pixcoco, Pickles, and everyone out there working together on this thing- This is just fantastic! The idea, the sharing/ teamwork, the descriptions- SUPER-COOL.

I took the liberty of cut-and-pasting the most useful info from the preceding 51 posts onto a word document for myself and studied it, gave it some thought, and made one out of cardboard. I've done a variety of friendship bracelets in my teenage years, but couldn't visualize this one in action... but the clues helped- it takes two people, for example- and I was able to make something that works for me!


(Click on the pic to make it bigger if needed)

The idea is- the clown holds the dowel and controls the gingerbread man or T- spinner. The child holds the ends of the string still. For best results, the child holds all 4 ends tightly together in one little fist- That's 2 pieces of string, but both head and tail of each, for 4 ends. The clown wrapped the yarn around the gingerbread spinner's body before handing off the ends to the child... Now, the child MUST hold tight! Because the clown is going to stand at the other end, giving a gentle tug (the firmer the tug, the tighter and nicer the twist in the finished bracelet), and if the child lets go, the yarn, the gingerbread spinner, and dowel go flying- a twisted mess and potential hazard. The clown just rotates the dowel until the thread is wound tightly, then, keeping tension in the yarn (this is the trickiest part here, the end, it seems), hold the twist where it comes close to the spinner (to keep it from unraveling), and fold the length of the spun yarn in half. Don't just let go! For the best quality, neatly twisted final product, you'll want to guide the folded yarn to twist on itself by spinning it into the right place using your hands... If you just let go, sometimes the bracelet gets all kinked up and bumpy.

Very cute, very fast craft for parties! Pickles, please post that fella's email here on the forum if you think he'll allow it- I think he deserves some orders if he's up to make it, it's a nice gadget.

The ideas from elsewhere in the thread- making it look like a gingerbread man, adding a whistle that sounds while it spins- are nice touches too... Looking at pixcoco's photo, I can also imagine a clown face painted on the spinner if a person felt so inclined.

I'd definitely recommend painting it nicely, making a quality- looking item if you decide to make your own and use it in shows- it's not too hard to make a quick-and-dirty cardboard version that would do the trink- but YIKES, it could be a scary, amateurish piece. We're all too good for that!

If you want the trick without the gadget- Have the child hold the string ends (or tie them to a stationary object) while you just twist/ twirl the opposite ends- then bring your end to meet the child's end while holding a finger at the centerpoint and twist gently before you allow the halves to come together neatly. Tie together where your end meets the child's end, and the result is the same- but the process is much less elegant.