I TRIED to do my own hooks in clay...

Good Afternoon, my friends!

I have a project to share with you today. If you read my last post about my trip to Walmart to get yarny stuff, then you will be familiar with what I am about to tell you. 

If not, go HERE and that should explain it.

I love to try Pinterest idea I see. I have been watching YouTube a lot for crochet tips and patterns. I ran across this YouTube video on how to make my own clay hook handles/grips at home. 

Here is the YouTube video if you want to get familiar with what I done to make my hooks. The VIDEO TUTORIAL is by Donna Wolfe at naztazia.com

I TRY to be crafty but sometimes things just don't work out for me. I KNOW this, but I insist on trying it anyway.

Well, as I said, I got this Sculpey Clay out of the arts and crafts section at Walmart (DON'T get me started on the selection). I got the few colors available to me. I ended up with turquoise, pink, white, and blue.

Not the best color choice. They had a gray. Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have gotten it. I could have benefited from another dark color.

Anyway, 

Here is the Sculpey Clay

It's only a few dollars per pack at Walmart and I had plenty left over. 

After we (my partner and I) watched Donna's video, we got out out our plates to roll on and got dirty.

They clay gets soft fast so dont work it too much.

Here is a few of ours...

3 colors all together...

twisted together...

Now once you cut them in bits and put them on your hook it will look like this...

Can you tell what my first mistake was?

Yup, too close to the hook. No slide room.

Sorry about the blur, this one has the size written in the clay with a toothpick. Its a K. You cover the all this up in Donna's Video. 

ONE WORD OF ADVICE: ONLY PUT YOUR CLAY UP-TO OR UNDER THE MARKINGS ON YOUR HOOK THAT TELL YOU THE SIZE. MINE WAS WAY TO MUCH. JUST PUT IT ON THE BOTTOM OF THE HOOK WHERE YOU GRIP.

Here are a few of the hooks we made with our limited color choices. I wanted swirly, pretty, hooks and well....

Here is the way one came out...

too brown and dingy for me, I was disappointed

This is one of my smaller hooks already baked. I like this one. I had to trim under the size of the hook though. See, this one had no room for the yarn to go on either.

I baked them like the directions on the package says. 15-20 min for 1/4 inch thick, I think.

Anyway, either I baked them too long or the white is going to turn dingy and brown anyway. Maybe having the gray would have helped. It wouldnt have changed color. I baked as directions said. I was SUPER disappointed when I saw this. See, how close I made them to the top of the hook? Please dont do this, unless you like not having any room at all on your hook.

I let the hooks cool off and then I got one out to work with. 

Here are a few tips!

The bigger the hook the LESS clay you want on it. It will become a fat bottom hook (haha, I crack myself up, :-)) if you do this. Plus, you have to bake longer for thicker clay and I wouldn't suggest it unless you know something I don't.

YES, You CAN cut through the clay to take it off, it bakes on like rubber.

Yup, you are seeing that correctly. I had to remove a couple of them from the bigger hooks. They were just to thick. Plus they had some big bottoms ;-)

Remember when you used to use those big fat pencils in kindergarten? Well, this was the same feeling.

Here is my favorite H aluminium hook in clay...

I like it. Its just the right size. If you look close you can see the straight cut that my partner made to trim mine down. It worked out great with just a sharp knife, we just scored a line on the clay and it cut right in two.

My view on the whole project? I wish I would have watched a few videos. Everyone does theirs different. You can search You Tube for the ones you will like best. I just was not thinking when I covered most of the hook, actually I had no idea.

You can polish them up. Donna said to use blue jeans (I couldn't tell the difference), and I think you can sandpaper them for shine. 

I had always wanted to try it but I am not so sure if the whole project was successful as a whole. 

I did get 3 pretty hooks though. The rest I will have to put grips on. My hands just cant go around looking like a claw.

My suggestion, Don't use white clay, lol

Here are the 3 hooks I kept the clay on. Notice they are all small hooks, E, F and H.

I still have a cushion grip on the E because its still a little skinny and my hands cramp when I use those little hooks. I love the look they make and I use them often.

Well, there is my go at making my own grips for my crochet hooks.

Do your research and keep it fun!

I have a tendency to suck the fun out of a project because I want perfection. It never, ever happens, I fail more often than not but it keeps me trying. I don't care who likes them. The ones I kept work great.

So make up your own minds and if you make some send me a link to yours in the comments and give me your suggestions!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Hookin!

~Crystal