More Yubinuki

So I posted about the thimble rings I made for Christmas last year, but I've made a few since then just because I love them. Here. Look.

Alright, so I made this one before all the others. This was my... second yubinuki. I don't know if I still have the first one, to be honest. It's very slim and has adjusted to fit my finger really well. Not the most elegant, but it does the job and I love it.

This one is based on a video game called Ark. Open-world, dinosaurs, survival. Tons of frustrating, creative fun. I saw the logo and then thought "I could make that a thimble!" It's a little puffier than my blue one so it spaces my fingers weird. As a result, it's mostly for looks.

The 2019 Pantone Color of the Year is Coral. As an avid scuba diver, I love real coral, but I HATE the color that everyone associates with it. Not sure why. I think it's just a little too close to orange. Anyway, this was my coral piece for the year so that I could say I played along. The pattern chosen reminds me of an actual living piece of coral, and so I chose dark blue to set it against. Since I don't like the color, though, I haven't used this one as an actual thimble. It sits in a box.

I call this one "Toxic." Why? Because the dark purple, light purple, and green in it remind me of a trio of plants in the video game Skyrim. These three plants are all used to make poisons. The scaled look of the pattern reminded me of overlapping petals. It was my first full-silk-thread ring and I love looking at it.

And finally we have "Princess." Yes, because it is pink and purple. This one is also full-silk on the threads and was my first "weaving" project. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. In fact, the checkers took less time than the purple border! I carry this one around to show off or fiddle with and am the most proud of it. The edges didn't roll as they did with "Toxic," the threads are all evenly spaced... Of all the thimbles I've made, this one is my favorite.

I have one in the works now that was an experiment. It is the same pattern as the Ark thimble, but the thread is variegated and pastel-y. It is... not turning out great. I may cut the threads and re-use the base, to be honest. If I do finish, it will be called "Unicorn Fart."

Do you want to make your own? Check out The Adventurous Silversmith Blog's series on making a Yubinuki. You can also visit this older website, Ma Mercerie, which is where I learned.

Christmas Yubinuki 2018

In 2018, my spouse and I went to Colorado for Christmas to spend it with his family. His entire family. Because there were so  many people, it was impractical to try and buy for everyone let alone transport everything 1,000 miles, so I decided to make gifts for all the ladies.

I decided on Yubinuki and matching cases.

You may not have seen one of my test-pages at the start of the blog, but it was about this craft. Here. Check it out.

Moving on now that you know a little about it... There were nine ladies there, so that means nine rings (wait, are these Nazgul?!) and nine cases. Here are the rings.

They were secured inside their cases with a necklace cord (because not everyone needs a thimble, and these make adorable little beads)

Now, what's this about cases? These little things have been called all sorts of things. I refer to them as "pips" or "cases."

Have fun matching up which one went with which thimble!

I also wanted to make one for my mom. Hers didn't match because she loves pumpkins and the color pink too much to decide between either.

Do you want to make your own? Check out The Adventurous Silversmith Blog's series on making a Yubinuki. You can also visit this older website, Ma Mercerie, which is where I learned.

Image Test

And now we will see what images look like on this blog. Here. Look at this checkered Yubinuki that I made.

A Yubinuki, or Japanese Thimble Ring.

A Yubinuki is a thimble that is worn on the middle finger on or just after the first knuckle. The finger is crooked and used to push the needle through the sewing medium. When pushing, the eye of the needle rests between the threads and does not slip around.

Yubinuki are traditionally made from bias-cut fabric, paper, silk wadding, and silk thread. I have made several with cotton embroidery floss and padded with a strip of felt and plastic "guts." The thimble pictured, however, is made with all the traditional ingredients.

For more information, visit The Adventurous Silversmith Blog's series on making a Yubinuki. You can also visit this older website, Ma Mercerie.