Bad hair day

I've experimented with various ways to create hair, using yarn, shirt seams, ribbons, string and even "straw yarn", like on this wacky WickiDoodle. Among the possible "do's", braids were an obvious choice, although that meant I would have to retrieve crochet needles from an old box I had stashed away. It's been literally decades since I crocheted. I started mainly out of self-defence, because at that time it was the thing to do.

Although I was convinced that I would never use them again –  based on physical evidence, like my attempts at crocheting a simple scarf – I hadn't wanted to give the needles away, because several belonged to my Grandma Clara. Like so many women of her time, she crocheted or knitted with others to make squares for blankets that were donated to those in need. So, there's a lot of history attached to these needles!

Thank goodness today it's possible to search for a tutorial online – succeeded in finding one that helped get me started again. Nothing ambitious – just a few strands that would hang down from the crown of the head.

After having done "braids" like these for a few WickiDoodles, I thought it was smooth sailing. Then I hit a bad hair day. The locks were just not cooperating. Needed more bounce: like in curls. Naturally, I googled "how to curl yarn" and got an immediate hit: craftyhomeschoolmom.com 

I will definitely try out the technique demonstrated in that video at some point – yarn wrapt around knitting needle, then baked in oven. My problem was that I had already sown the hair onto the head – and putting a whole WickiDoodle into a hot oven seemed a bit risky 😉 

Instead, I applied a basic approach: water and heat. I wet the strands well, curled them and used paperclips to keep each curl in place. Then I put the WD on the radiator and waited for the hair to dry. Results: pincurls 👍