finger nails and crochet

[frogsrock]

do you think they help or hinder?

 

i have long, hard, natural nails and ive noticed i use them a lot when i crochet, especially my thumb nail, i like pick up the stitch a bit

but when i tried thread they got in the way

 

this is one of my hands, my nails are usually that long... but they go threw breakage periods and when that happens i cut/file them down, when that happens crocheting is harder (has to be at least 3mm over my finger)

 

but ive been asked by others how i manage it with my nails... so opinions?

[losingmymind2]

I've learned to crochet with fake nails, as long as they are the shortest length they're easier for me. Keyboarding is easier too. I tried letting my nails grow out after acrylics...bad move. They are so weak they tear and snag the yarn. So short artificials it is for now.

[Ladycrochat]

My nails are very soft and tear before they get very long....But I just wanted to say that I thought you had beautiful hands!

[eurolyons]

I usually don't paint my nails and my nails grow long, but up to a point and then they tear and snag. I recently started using Avon's Instant Manicure and man or man, my nails grew longer and stronger and I didn't have any problems with snags and tears...amazing...the Instant Manicure lasts at least 14 days...anyway, that's what I do...however, without it, I try to keep my nails about medium...not too long, not too short and things work out and yes, frogsrock, beautiful nails...

[Melibean223]

i get my nails done every 2 weeks, all my own nails but with acrylic on them I try to keep them short since I do have a 3 yr old I don't like them to be too long cause I don't want to accidenatly scratch him. And plus not knowing when I'm going to pop and hae my little girl it is better to just keep them short instead of break one in labor (learned that lesson with my son). But I don't have any problem crocheting with them, then again I learned with them so I would probably have issues if I didn't have them cuase usualy my nails are very thing and break alot I would probably snag a nail on the yarn alot, or if i went to pick at a stitch i would end up screwing it up or something.

[lhasaapsolady]

I used to have extremely long fingernails and would go every couple weeks to have them taken care of so they didn't break. I don't feel they got in my way, and I don't feel that they hindered me. They were just there. Here's a pic of what the used to look like.

 

[Debbi-a1]

I do my own fake nails and keep them short. But even a longer they didn't get in the way. Thread is a little harder to work with long nails simply because for me the hook is skinnier. But they actually help me crochet as they can hold the yarn for me.

Debbi

[yarnbunny]

I used to have really long fake nails. They did hinder a little but I learned to work with them.

 

My dad, and later my boyfriend, used to say that I sounded like a spider sitting in a corner weaving my web. (b/c my nails would click with every stitch) I would always laugh because I don't think anyone has ever heard a spider spin it's web.

[lee_ann]

my nails grow pretty fast, but my job is pretty rough on them sometimes so they are getting pretty soft and start to tear...then when i crochet the yarn catches on my nail so i have to cut them off, which i hate to do! But as long as i don't have any tears or jagged nails that i'm too lazy to cut off, its not a hinderance

 

Lee Ann

[TamKing]

Crocheting with nails isn't so hard...especially when you've always had longer nails.

By the way Frogsrock, you have lovely nails!

[sakurasaku]

I've played the piano since I was 4, so I am not used to having long nails. I can't stand it when the white part gets to be more than a couple of millimeters. I had my nails done ONLY ONCE in my life, when I was going to someone's wedding (I didn't even have them done for my own wedding:eek). I always wondered how people manage the keyboard...I guess you keep your fingers relatively flat on the keys.

 

So, no, it's out of the question for me to crochet with long nails, but yours look lovely, frogsrock.

[Daisy]

My nails are soft and chip, crack and peel, so they don't get very long. I don't find that my longer nails (when they get long) get in the way of my crocheting, but they do get in the way of typing. By the way, your nails are gorgeous!

[frogsrock]

thanks for the compliments

 

as for typeing with nails i tend to hit the key with the tip of my nail and a bit of my finger...like on an angle

 

it seems like a lot of people cant manage with nails, nice to know im not alone (with being able to)

 

ive also only had my nails done once in my life (cousins wedding) NEVER AGAIN!!! stupid woman filed my nails down so low it physically hurt

but o well i can do a french manicure as well as any nail salon so its no big deal

i nearly cried/screamed on the night of homecoming... i did my nails with a black and pink french manicure (to match my dress), a line of glitter sepeateing the colors, and had a stone in the middle

and then i put my stockings on... messed up all my nails (they werent as dry as i thought )

[goldi316]

I can't stand long nails and keep mine short, which is funny because I have naturally hard nails that grow fast (which drives me crazy). In order to cut them, I have to do it immediately after a shower or I have to soak them, and I have to use toenail clippers as the regular nail clippers aren't strong enough to cut them. When my nails get a little too long, I also get severe thick dry skin right around the tips of my fingers at the nail edges that flake and catch my yarn. But it's rare for the nails to snag, as they rarely break or chip. Disgusting, I know!

 

I go through phases with the manicuring and nail polish routine, would do it more often if I wasn't so impatient - even with the instant dry polishes. I almost always manage to screw up at least one nail from not waiting long enough.

 

Your nails are lovely, and I'm glad you aren't hampered by them. I know my daughter wishes she'd inherited my nails, she would appreciate them alot more than I do, and hers would look like yours. But alas, she has the soft, easily breakable variety and goes the acrylic route to get the look she craves.

 

And all of this reminds me, I have a date with some nail clippers - the nails have again gotten out of hand (so to speak).

[xampx]

i noticed that since i took up crochet again i stopped biting my nails Ive never had them very long though. I had artificials last christmas and since i make jewellery, i was trying to get some last min xmas presents together and it was SOOOO hard

[LadyyOftheOak]

I love long nails and my nails tend to grow quickly.. not as long as those pictured but enough that when I do have them manicured the falsy folks there are envious lol I've done the acrylic nails but don't like what they do to the nail bed to attach them.. and it takes forever for them to grow out. The only way I can manage with nails AA (after acrylic) is to keep them cut very short until they grow out. Love how it looks.. hate how it looks after :-/ and not committed enough to keep them refilled every time lol

 

I don't have any problem typing or crocheting either one.. and I'm a legal secretary so ALOT of typing. I'd do the polish more often if I was more patient lol I am one of the ones that just can't wait for it to dry and always wind up messing at least one of them up

[Sylviaf]

I keep my nails short because they annoy me when they get long and I don't want to snag my yarn when theydecide to start breaking. I love the look of other people's pretty nails, though.

[ep61224]

my nails are usually 1/2-3/4 inch beyond the tips of my fingers-have been that way for years, so when they are shorter I feel like part of my finger is missing...they are my thread holders when working on really intricate patterns!!!

[Eveamlizya]

my nails and crocheting do not mix at all...i bite my nails constantly--except when i crochet so everytime i go to crochet (i keep clippers in my crocheting stuff) i have to clip my fingernails to keep the bitten ends from pulling at my yarn

[cjansen]

I have an easier time doing about everything when my nails are longer. It is driving me crazy now that I can't wear my "fake" nails that I wore for almost 15 years. I feel like I am typing in a hole and I can't grab things like needles, or thread without my fingers getting in the way!

[MimiFL]

I've played the piano since I was 4, so I am not used to having long nails. I can't stand it when the white part gets to be more than a couple of millimeters.

 

Same here. I'm also a musician (piano and violin), and on the violin especially, there's just no way to have long nails (can't vibrate if your fingers don't touch the fingerboard!). Mine don't get a chance to grow much before I intervene to stop them.

 

I can't stand long nails and keep mine short, which is funny because I have naturally hard nails that grow fast (which drives me crazy). In order to cut them, I have to do it immediately after a shower or I have to soak them, and I have to use toenail clippers as the regular nail clippers aren't strong enough to cut them. When my nails get a little too long, I also get severe thick dry skin right around the tips of my fingers at the nail edges that flake and catch my yarn.

 

Ditto. That's how mine are, too. I can't imagine doing them when they're dry. I think I'd need pliers...

 

When I was in... let's see, third grade I think? my teacher accused me of biting my nails. I never have, but she insisted I did. Haven't forgotten it. But I'm not bitter. No siree.

 

I've never had a manicure in my life. Don't wear makeup either, or color my hair. I guess I have simple tastes. Or maybe I'm just lazy!

[HappyOldCro]

I have done it with long nails and short ones. The only thing that bothered me when they got long was when the pinky nail started digging into the palm of the hand that held the hook. I would trim it then. My biggest thing is when they split or get raggy from other work. I always keep a file in my crochet bag for that.

[HappyOldCro]

I've never had a manicure in my life. Don't wear makeup either, or color my hair. I guess I have simple tastes.

 

I have only done the above for weddings and such. Simplicity has a beauty all it's own.

[vonnie]

I also have very long nails, natural ones, I have always had long nails take care of them myself and they have never been a problem, I crochet mainly with thread...

[caednkat]

I don't use my nails when I crochet or knit, but I also don't see that they get in my way.

 

Mine are usualy somewhere between a 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch above my fingertip, and I keep them squared off.

 

I just recently started painting them again and I love it!