About the service
I have been turning wood for eight years, and I make every nursing necklace and every teether myself, from choosing the blank to tying the last knot. I look for species with no resin pockets and a smooth, even grain: juniper for its calm figure and pleasant weight, beech for how uniformly it turns and how well it resists chipping. Blanks are dried first, and anything with a knot, a shake or a hairline crack is set aside rather than filled. Then I turn the beads and rings, drill them, and clean the inside of every hole with a rolled abrasive so the cord never chafes on a sharp edge. The surface is brought up by sanding alone, through several grits, until it feels like silk. I never lacquer anything: bare sanded wood or a food-safe oil rubbed into the fibre, and nothing else.
The stringing matters as much as the turning. There is a knot between every bead, so that a cord which does give way cannot release the whole strand at once. The cord itself is made to break away, or fitted with a clasp designed to open under pull rather than hold. Part of the beads I crochet in cotton in quiet natural colours, undyed or dyed with mild dyes; nothing loud, nothing that can rub off on hands. Length is measured to you, so that the strand sits comfortably while you feed and while you carry your baby. The teether is kept to a simple shape, a ring or a smooth bar with a waist, something a small hand can actually hold on to.
I will say this plainly here, and I say it again in writing when I hand the order over. This is jewellery for an adult and a wooden object to hold, not a medical device. I do not claim that it eases teething, that it soothes, or that it helps a child sleep; wood has no such properties, and I will not sell one on that promise. The necklace is worn by the adult, on the adult. A child never wears it round the neck, because a cord round a small neck is dangerous. A child handles it only in hands, only while an adult is watching the whole time, and never while asleep or drowsy, and never left alone with it for a minute.
What the work includes:
— choosing resin-free, smooth-grained juniper or beech and rejecting any flawed blank;
— turning beads and rings, drilling and deburring every hole inside and out;
— sanding through grits, finished bare or with a food-safe oil, never lacquered;
— a knot between each bead and a breakaway cord or a clasp that opens under tension;
— cotton crochet over part of the beads in quiet natural shades;
— length fitted to you for feeding and carrying;
— care notes in writing: wipe with warm water and mild soap, dry flat away from heat, never boil, never put it in a dishwasher, re-oil when the wood looks dull, store dry and out of a child's reach;
— a safety check you repeat before every single use: look for cracks, splits and roughness, and try each bead for movement on the cord. At the first sign of damage, a loose bead or a frayed cord, the piece goes in the bin. It is not worth repairing, and I would rather make you a new one.
The stringing matters as much as the turning. There is a knot between every bead, so that a cord which does give way cannot release the whole strand at once. The cord itself is made to break away, or fitted with a clasp designed to open under pull rather than hold. Part of the beads I crochet in cotton in quiet natural colours, undyed or dyed with mild dyes; nothing loud, nothing that can rub off on hands. Length is measured to you, so that the strand sits comfortably while you feed and while you carry your baby. The teether is kept to a simple shape, a ring or a smooth bar with a waist, something a small hand can actually hold on to.
I will say this plainly here, and I say it again in writing when I hand the order over. This is jewellery for an adult and a wooden object to hold, not a medical device. I do not claim that it eases teething, that it soothes, or that it helps a child sleep; wood has no such properties, and I will not sell one on that promise. The necklace is worn by the adult, on the adult. A child never wears it round the neck, because a cord round a small neck is dangerous. A child handles it only in hands, only while an adult is watching the whole time, and never while asleep or drowsy, and never left alone with it for a minute.
What the work includes:
— choosing resin-free, smooth-grained juniper or beech and rejecting any flawed blank;
— turning beads and rings, drilling and deburring every hole inside and out;
— sanding through grits, finished bare or with a food-safe oil, never lacquered;
— a knot between each bead and a breakaway cord or a clasp that opens under tension;
— cotton crochet over part of the beads in quiet natural shades;
— length fitted to you for feeding and carrying;
— care notes in writing: wipe with warm water and mild soap, dry flat away from heat, never boil, never put it in a dishwasher, re-oil when the wood looks dull, store dry and out of a child's reach;
— a safety check you repeat before every single use: look for cracks, splits and roughness, and try each bead for movement on the cord. At the first sign of damage, a loose bead or a frayed cord, the piece goes in the bin. It is not worth repairing, and I would rather make you a new one.
