Winter is a great time to do things one enjoys. The nights are long and there is always time for crafts and hobbies. I have been crocheting and knitting, along with making soap and creams. The thing is I never use patterns and hardly use recipes, except for soap, which must have a recipe to ensure the lye is properly calculated. The days of lye soap that will leave holes in your clothes are long gone.
Knitting is hard on my arthritic hands for some reason, so I only do a little at a time. Crochet is not so bad, and I find I can easily crochet for an hour and sometimes longer. Using a thick handled crochet hook is supposed to be helpful. Before I invest in some of those, I am going to wrap one with some batting and see if it makes a difference for pain and tolerance.
My granddaughter is turning one in April. I pondered over purchasing a gift, but I far prefer handmade items. I did make some baby soap for her, and a cream in case shes needs it, but a toy is much more fun. First I made a basket from the wool from the sheep here at the Fat Ewe Farm. The wool is East Friesian and it was processed professionally, coming back as batting and roving, which is loose ropes of wool. My friend, Kara, of Spin Heart Spin, is a master spinner, and we traded some soap for the roving being spun into a chunky yarn. That is the wool the basket was made from. At the suggestion of a mom who has a toddler, I am going to add a handle to the basket. I had thought of it, but did not. Now I will.
The bunny is from my noggin - no pattern. I wanted something she could cart around, since she is already walking and that was durable, soft and safe. The bunny was made in pieces: tail, head, body, arms, legs, ears, ruffles and bow and then the face was embroidered on. It is a simple bunny and the look I hoped to achieve was imperfection. One ear not quite like the other, a little tilted down and one arm up while the other is resting. She has a tuft of hair tied in the bow atop her head. The bunny is stuffed with the roving wool that the yarn for the basket was made from, but the bunny yarn is cotton made in Canada.
In a week or so, a friend and I will be driving down to Calgary, well she to Carstairs and then my son will pick me to go on to Calgary. Then I will present the bunny in a basket to my little girl. Oh yeah, I am going to make a little blanket for the bunny too! Then she can put her to bed in the basket. I hope she likes the gift. I certainly enjoyed making it for her and I am sure it will only be one of many she receives from my heart in her lifetime. What do you think?
Knitting is hard on my arthritic hands for some reason, so I only do a little at a time. Crochet is not so bad, and I find I can easily crochet for an hour and sometimes longer. Using a thick handled crochet hook is supposed to be helpful. Before I invest in some of those, I am going to wrap one with some batting and see if it makes a difference for pain and tolerance.
My granddaughter is turning one in April. I pondered over purchasing a gift, but I far prefer handmade items. I did make some baby soap for her, and a cream in case shes needs it, but a toy is much more fun. First I made a basket from the wool from the sheep here at the Fat Ewe Farm. The wool is East Friesian and it was processed professionally, coming back as batting and roving, which is loose ropes of wool. My friend, Kara, of Spin Heart Spin, is a master spinner, and we traded some soap for the roving being spun into a chunky yarn. That is the wool the basket was made from. At the suggestion of a mom who has a toddler, I am going to add a handle to the basket. I had thought of it, but did not. Now I will.
The bunny is from my noggin - no pattern. I wanted something she could cart around, since she is already walking and that was durable, soft and safe. The bunny was made in pieces: tail, head, body, arms, legs, ears, ruffles and bow and then the face was embroidered on. It is a simple bunny and the look I hoped to achieve was imperfection. One ear not quite like the other, a little tilted down and one arm up while the other is resting. She has a tuft of hair tied in the bow atop her head. The bunny is stuffed with the roving wool that the yarn for the basket was made from, but the bunny yarn is cotton made in Canada.
In a week or so, a friend and I will be driving down to Calgary, well she to Carstairs and then my son will pick me to go on to Calgary. Then I will present the bunny in a basket to my little girl. Oh yeah, I am going to make a little blanket for the bunny too! Then she can put her to bed in the basket. I hope she likes the gift. I certainly enjoyed making it for her and I am sure it will only be one of many she receives from my heart in her lifetime. What do you think?
RSS Feed