I recently learned something that shocked me. Stunned me, confused me, knocked me stupid(er). I feel like I just learned that the thing I’ve been using to fry eggs all my life is called a double-boiler, and skillets are a completely different thing!
Specifically, I was making one of those grape-cluster kind of earrings, wrapping dozens of loops into links of chain. And at one point I actually looked at the pattern, instead of just looking at the pictures of the finished object. And I looked again. And then I put down my earring and picked up the magazine and I was dumfounded. Are you ready?
I make wrapped loops wrong. WRONG! There you have it, to my shame and chagrin. I looked at the picture in the magazine and thought “why are the pliers that way?” Followed closely by “WHAT??? That’s not right!!” Followed by a flurry of digging in books and magazines and anything else I could find, and sure enough, I am in a very very small minority. So either the rest of the planet is doing it wrong, or it’s me. It’s probably me.
So, if you’ve taken Jewelry Making Techniques in the last 3 months, I apologize. I’m sooooo sorry. Here’s how the rest of the world does it:
When making a wrapped loop, especially when connecting links (like the two-section earrings in class) it is perfectly normal, as well as easier, to put the jaws of the round-nose pliers across the loop, instead of one jaw inside the loop. That’s the only difference, you don’t shove the pliers into the loop, you hold the loop across the middle with the pliers. If I could take a picture while holding the pliers, I would. Maybe we can get that added later.
I’m still stunned. The planet wobbled, I think, and not in a good way. What else have I been doing, with the rest of the planet watching and saying “What a ninny, she’s not doing that right either!” (Stop that! I know my driving skills are “limited” at best! And that my cooking skills are about the equivalent of the normal 18-year-old male.)
I think I need to have a nice lie-down now.