knitted polymer clay tree decorations with Tutorial

[maxxev]

i made these as a Christmas pressie for a knitting mad friend at work. this is the first time i had tried this particular technique but i think they work quite well though i suspect practice is needed to get the 'stitches' a little more even. i baked each 'knitted' piece on a cocktail stick then trimmed the stick and wedged on a pearl bead to make the needle and tied on tread to hang them.



my favourite of the two (an unfinished purple scarf)


action shot....



Tutorial:
use a clay extruder gun to get even strands in your chosen colour.
lay two strands as shown below





gently twist the strands. the tighter the twists the tighter the 'stitches'. twists the strands in opposite directions.







place the strands side by side matching twists to create stitches.



repeat to create the desired number of strands. place two sets of strands side by side matching the twists.



once the knit is the desired length i weave a few strands at the bottom to neaten it. either then tim or leave strands to create tassles as for the scarf.



this is why you need to leave a loop at the top. thread a cocktail stick through each loop making sure each twists in the same direction





shape and bake .
trim one end of the cocktail stick. you can either do this before baking and add a ball of clay to the end to make the needle or tightly wedge/glue a bead after baking.

[MareMare]

Those are wonderful! Love them!

[Melladh]

Rocks Very well made. The purple is my favorite too.

[BrittanyVictory]

woooow. O.O
These look crazy-intricate. So cool!

[nougatgee]

lovely!!

[RhymeswOrange]

Wow these are fantastic!

[Shining Jaelle]

You made them with polymer clay! Wow, it's awesome... I hadn't read the title, so I thought you had knit them (thought in that case the last picture would have been defying gravity)

[Diane B.]

Very nice! And  I think you did a great job with the evenness of the stitches.

Which clay or clay-combo did you use?... Bake and Bend only, or the Premo + Bake and Bend mix, or something else? And did you have any trouble with the clay "memory" problem, or just not rebake?...hmmm, looks like you said baked only for the whole piece, so did you actually knit the strands raw?


For anyone else interested in knitting, crocheting, weaving and braiding with baked strands of polymer clay (and sometimes unbaked ones for the last two), there's info here:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/claygun.htm (click on Weaving, Crochet, Braid, etc.)

Diane B.

[maxxev]

Very nice! And  I think you did a great job with the evenness of the stitches.

Which clay or clay-combo did you use?... Bake and Bend only, or the Premo + Bake and Bend mix, or something else? And did you have any trouble with the clay "memory" problem, or just not rebake?...hmmm, looks like you said baked only for the whole piece, so did you actually knit the strands raw?


For anyone else interested in knitting, crocheting, weaving and braiding with baked strands of polymer clay (and sometimes unbaked ones for the last two), there's info here:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/claygun.htm (click on Weaving, Crochet, Braid, etc.)

Diane B.

thanks

i've only ever used fimo brand clay (not so much preference just its the easiest to get hold of)
tute now added

[Diane B.]

Oh, now I see...you actually twisted the strands (while raw) rather than knitting or crocheting with them after baking.  Look great.

i've only ever used fimo brand clay (not so much preference just its the easiest to get hold of)

Which Fimo line did you use?... Classic or Soft? 
And your strands don't look totally smooth after extruding (in the extreme closeups)...why is that? Did you perhaps not warm or use an additive to make the clay really smooth before putting in the clay gun?

Diane B.