Gold, copper, silver, green, red, and black ... aluminum wire comes in all kinds of colors, did you know that?
First up on my agenda is something I've been wanting ever since I ran out of my supply of this incredibly flexible and comfortable wire: something so very simple to make but so very useful ...
One slender length of aluminum 12 gauge wire, fourteen inches in this case.
Curl the ends into closed loops and make a C shape.
Elven Circlet for when you want to be elvish.
Headband.
The simplest Torc ever.
Flexibility and versatility are the main reasons I so love working with aluminum wire.
The Elven Circlet is like a mini-crown, a symbol of status. It's like making an understatement.
The Headband is awesome. It holds your hair out of your face, the ends curl and mold around the backs of your ears just by you wrapping them into place - and there they stay so comfortably that you forget you have it on. You know how the 'typical' headbands always seem to dig in behind your ears and hurt you? These don't, and they stay in place until you take them off.
The Simple Torc - you honestly cannot get any simpler than this. Again, it's an understatement - an extremely simple little piece of wire whose meaning lies in its use. You can also turn it around, shape the front however you like, hang a dangle from it, and hook the ends to each other in the back by bending them into U shapes to lock the hoop together.
This length of wire is fourteen inches because that's all I wanted for this little piece. Longer pieces would give me more to curl around my ears without sacrificing the least bit of comfort for both the Elven Circlet and the Headband, plus allow for spiraling the ends for the Simple Torc. Most people have bigger heads and necks than mine so would need more length. It's so entirely an individual preference that no 'standard' length can really be set. An easy rule of thumb is to use a length that's as long as from the outside of your elbow to your fingertips. And you don't have to use 12 gauge wire - any size from 12 down will be all right (smaller numbers = fatter wire) so fiddle around with it and suit yourself.
This is literally the simplest and easiest and most useful project ever in the whole wide world.
Just keep in mind that the same flexibility that makes aluminum wire so easy to shape also makes it very susceptible to mangling. Although you can always un-mangle it and smooth it back out, do not expect it to retain its shape without some care on your part. It's soft (part of its comfort), not like silver or gold alloys which are formulated to 'stay in shape'.
Since I'm not making fancy expensive jewelry, I like it. That it's affordable and makes up into terrific looking things helps. I don't work in other metals except for copper (also pretty flexible but tougher than aluminum) because all of my stuff is experimental and I can't afford to experiment with silver and gold, nor do I have the tools/equipment to do that.
Oh, one other thing. It's a good idea to smooth the ends after you cut your piece so they don't poke or snag anything. Use sandpaper or a fine file and check with your fingertips to be sure they're smooth.
And that's that. It took a whole minute and a half to make myself the most comfortable headband in the world, and I can use it as a Circlet and a Torc or hoop, too. If I want, I can wrap this same piece around my wrist a couple of times and have a bracelet. Or wrap it around my ankle. Or around my upper arm. Or wrap it around a finger for a ring and twine the length of it into a spiral on the top of my hand that connects to a bracelet. Or wrap it once around my wrist and bring it down into a spiral on the top of my hand or take it up into a spiral on my forearm. I like spirals - the more the better.
That's a lot of options for one relatively short piece of wire, you have to admit.
The only tools you need are a pair of pliers and a file or sandpaper - or a rough rock I suppose.
And imagination.
No comments:
Post a Comment