San Francisco Girl

Today's clothespin series is inspired by a certain curly-headed friend of mine, the consummate San Francisco girl (even if she lives in Oakland now), stylish and fun-loving. Here she is strolling up to North Beach for an espresso at Caffe Trieste and a bit of shopping on upper Grant.

Making friends in Chinatown as the Muni buses rumble below ...


And shopping at the Ferry Building farmers market. Did I mention she's a bit of a foodie?


How To: Curls

If you're a real person, you can only be born with curls as great as these (and trust me, they are stupendous). But if you are a clothespin, this is how you get them:

1) Starting with 3- or 4-ply yarn in your chosen color, unravel the end slightly to separate out the end of one of the strands.


2) Holding onto one strand, scrunch the remaining strands down the yarn, forming tightly bunched bundle of yarn.


3) You might want to make a couple of these, to have plenty of curly yarn to choose from. The bunches usually end up being two or three inches long, since the pulling strand often gets stretched out and breaks off at a certain point.


4) Now hold a hot, steamy iron just above the yarn bundles for about a minute. Don't press the iron against them, as that will flatten the curl.

5) Let the yarn cool down and dry out, then release the bunched fibers, either by pulling out the center strand, or gently loosening the bunched strands until they spring free.

Curls! Trim and glue into place as desired.


Sense of fun and San Francisco-style sold separately.