I recently found out about crochet tension rings on Instagram on Mister Domestic's account. I use a tension ring for colourwork knitting, and when I saw the one on Instagram I thought, what a great idea! However, the ones that I saw online were all right handed specific, meaning that the animal, usually a swan, would be upside down, or sitting directly on my knuckle if I were to wear it on my left hand. So, it would either cause discomfort, or the loop would be upside down, which would mean that the yarn would not be held in place by the loop.
So I decided to make my own. I still have various thicknesses of silver wire. I used a thick wire and simply bent it into the shape that I wanted. However, after using it last night I realised that the wire, you can see the original thickness in the bits at the ends of the ring, was too thin and still dug into my skin quite a bit. This was obviously not ideal because the whole point of the ring is to eliminate the grove in my finger, usually created by the yarn, or now by the ring.
So this morning I took a second thick piece of wire and bent it into shape and then proceeded to wrap both pieces of thick wire with a very thin piece. It's very rudimentary, and I haven't checked whether it's more comfortable now but I do love it! I'm pleased with the fact that I made this ring myself, and the handmade, rustic look is perfect since it shows that I created it. In future I would love to get a jeweller to make one for me in the shape of a dragon but for now this ring is sufficient.