Pulling sugar is not easy. It basically involves handling sugar (with an acid added to keep it from crystalizing) or isomalt that is over 100*C, pulling and folding it to "satinize" it, and pulling it into appealing shapes. The biggest problem with this is you have to grip the sugar firmly and often for many seconds. When you hold something hot, your instinct is to touch it lightly and drop it as quickly as possible; you can't do that with pulled sugar, so you end up with sore, blistered fingers. Plus, the sugar really does offer up a lot of resistance when you pull it, which makes your hands ache, even hurt, after a while--or perhaps that's just me, because the joints in my hands and wrists seem to be aching a lot lately.
I really don't like pulling sugar, I find it too painful (not the blisters, though that's not fun) but the pain I get in my hands from it. It's unfortunate, really, because I think pulled sugar is beautiful and it's the type of fine detail work I usually love doing.
We used the pulled sugar work to decorate our owls. In my case, I made leaves for the branch the owl stands on and a little flower for her ear. So pretty! I also made a "fantasy flower"--a flower that does not attempt to replicate a real flower--which I really did like the look of.
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