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castlebar Jul 18, 2007

Hi everyone,

Would anyone know where I could find a good needle felting handle, not the knob with all the holes. I'm hoping to find something for a single needle :-)
My thumb and hand are killing me and I have to ice them at night or slow down on needle felting :-(

Any info would be awesome!

All the best
Laura
Kookaloon bears & buddies

Tammy Jul 19, 2007

Laura, I used to get terrible hand cramps too so I  made some knobs out of Fimo or Sculpy clay.  Just shape a ball around the needle top and bake as per instructions on the package ( 15-30 minutes).  I think a few others have done this also.  You can mould it a bit to fit your hand before backing too.  I also "engraved" the needle size ( 38T , 36S ...) into the clay top before baking.

nimbleknot Jul 19, 2007

Another thing you could do is take a little rubber ball (the kind kids play and get in goodie bags at birthday parties) and slice it a little bit with an xacto and shove in the back of the needle. I know how you feel, it starts to hurt after a couple hours!

Cute doggie by the way!!!

castlebar Jul 19, 2007

Hi

thank you for the helpful tips, I do have fimo on hand, I'll try that first.
Thought I might have to take a break, you know how hard that is when you have new ideas brewing in your head. LOL

All the best
Laura

Marlys Jul 19, 2007

I believe Edinburgh offers knobs with single holes as well as two holes and three holes.

Little Bear Guy Jul 19, 2007

The other option you can try is a wine bottle cork.  This was Bobbies idea (I believe so anyway) when we took her class yrs ago,  you can just take the needle and push it through the center of the cork.  It works well, but perhaps Bobbie has come up with another alternative,  you know our Bobbie  always thinking and coming up with something cool.

big hugs

Shane

Daphne Jul 19, 2007

The other option you can try is a wine bottle cork.

Just don't drink the wine right before needlefelting!
:crackup: 
That's actually a great idea! Leave it to Bobbie!
 

I went the fimo/sculpey route and made different colored handles for each sized needle.... works great!

You could also check out eBay.... I looked a while back and found some interesting ones. Oh, and Clover makes a needle holder too I believe. (They make lots of quilting supplies).

fredbear Jul 19, 2007

Kraftmania- based in the UK and also on EBAY sell handles for the felting tools, plus roving and other interesting things.
Kraft Mania
Unit 8 New Plough Yard
Great Harwood
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB6 7AX
United Kingdom
01254 886954

http://kraftmania.com/

I found angora roving, alpaca roving, silks plus the usual other fleece brands.

castlebar Jul 19, 2007

Hey all,

Thanks for the tips! I may try them all and see what works best :-)
I'll go check the Kraftmaina link as well.
I have to say I found some really nice batts and roving on ebay, if your looking for super white white, go to crystal creek fibers. Love her stuff! great price, the white roving came yesterday it's awesome. It also dyes really nice.
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZcrysta … ersQQhtZ-1

Laura

rkr4cds Jul 20, 2007

Man, I really hate typing out a long reply, only to find that you hit Close instead of Send...
Take #2 -
I wish I'd thought of corks Shane, but it was Berta H-M's idea. I sure hope I gave her credit at the time! She sent me a bagful of too-beautiful-to-use-designs; I hate to use them!
If I did - and I don't remeber if she said she does this - I'd drill a small pilot hole through them first. I'd do it to keep the needle going in straight - they're wicked sharp - and to not split the cork.

Funny thing, as we don't drink - it all tastes like sour grapes to us. In June Don bought a bottle of Pinot Grigo (sp?) for a chicken dish. Our neighbors know that our recycling bin contains Root Beer & Diet Pepsi cans. We needed to get the top off for preparing dinner (I LOVE having a retired DH who's teaching himself to cook!!) and we couldn't find the corkscrew we'd bought for our Italian SIL to use when he's here. I'd twisted the vegetable spiral cuttur into it but of course couldn't pull it out then. Don went to a neighbor, who about fell over, and didn't believe that we weren't 'celebrating' anything!!!
(Afore-mentioned SIL finished it off on 4th July) So, there are no corks here.

In the beginning I used polymers too, but they were too hard and uncomfortable. I found Crayola's® air-drying Model Magic. It's wonderful-comes in many shades. I use one color per style/size/. Buy the small packets, which will cover about 2 doz needle tops, becausethe remainder will dry out in the sealed container you'll put it in, just from the air in the sealed container.

I used to write on the tops: the size, shape, placement of barbs ('Zone' 1, 2 & 3 - for where the barbs are in the working shaft) and the manufacturers' name (ID for figuring out which I liked and which to not buy from in future.)

I use only Foster now so that need's gone. I purchase needles with the barbs placed in the 'zones' that I feel are the most effective for what stage I use each different size for, and I create round tops (marble sized) for Stars & Oval tops for Ts. I now can glance at the needles buried in the side of my foam and pick the right one at once.

The company recommends drying Model Magic overnight; I wait AT LEAST a week. Our summers are humid and that slows down drying. Even in winter, if used too soon - the outside may feel dry but the top will crumble right off if not completely dry inside. I formed the tops for my teaching classes coming up, a week ago. I want them to dry for at least 2 weeks before the students get them.

Speaking of teaching, I had the pleasure of taking 2 day classes from Brigitte Krag Hansen from Copenhagen  last summer and this summer (after I get my one class over with) I have 2 days in classes with Sharon Costello. We all work differently and I learn many things from superior teachers like these.

If anyone will be in northern IL, NE Iowa or southern WI between 25 - 29 July, I will be teaching and attending the Midwest Felting Symposium then. Thee are still some openings in a wealth of class topics (wet & dry felting) along with vendors and some of the top Midwest teachers, like Ruth Walker and Andrea Mielke. LMK if you want info: Susan's Fiber Shop hosts/sponsors it at the Alliant Center in Madison WI. Madison has SUCH a beautiful state capitol building, wonderful shops, restaurants and WISCONSIN ICE CREAM (from the Dairy State, of course!) I'll be happy to send info or here's the link:
http://www.midwestfeltingsymposium.com/

Judi Jul 20, 2007

Another thing you could try is to wear support gloves.  Lynette Kennedy sent me a pair and they really felt nice on my tired cramped hands. I am just not comfortable with knobs on my needles so hours of NFing can really make for sore hands.  The gloves also  offered a support of the wrist as well . They are almost like a hand message.  

castlebar Jul 20, 2007

Thank you Bobbie for telling me to put a hole in the cork first :-)
I had a cork on hand and thought I would try it but it wouldn't go through, so I stopped, I didn't want to break the needle, I think the whole makes a difference. LOL I'll be making the hole today. I do think I have that air dry clay somewhere. I'll have to check for it.

And Judy, I have a support glove! I didn't even think about that, ok I'm armed and ready to work again!  Last night I was making myself use my other hand! LOL

Thanks so much for all the tips
Laura