I've been spending some time lately making Christmas presents for other people's children. Unlike the gifts I've been working on for my kids, I've been working on these things in front of the kids. This has caused no small amount of misunderstanding with Samuel. He has somehow got it into his head that I am only making toys for other children, and he wont have any toys on Christmas. His little heart is broken, and I can't seem to make him understand that Mommy has been working on toys for him too. He has gotten Abriel worked up about it too, and she has started coming up with very specific things that she wants for Christmas. What she has asked for is a stroller and a Violet root child. Luckily, I'm already making them. It's nice when what you want for your child and what they want happen to coincide. I will be glad when Christmas is here, and they will realize that I haven't forgotten them.
And in case your wondering, this is what started the big fuss.
A little camping set for my niece. It has a tent, sleeping bag with pillow, and a campfire. I'm thinking about making some of these to sell in my Esty shop.
And a little doll for my granddaughter. The body is made from a felted angora sweater, so it's super soft and snugly. This is the first time I have stitched the hair directly on to the head. I had some yellow fingering weight wool yarn, that wasn't enough to make anything much with, so it was perfect for this. I didn't fill in the whole head, as it is mostly covered with a crochet cap, but the little bit peaking out looks cute.
I really like making these types of doll. I use the pattern for the "floppy doll" out of "Making Toys With Children."
Along with making toys, I finally started dyeing some of my wool roving. I say finally, because even though I love dyeing silk and wool yarn, I was very intimidated by dyeing wool roving. I had this vision of it turning into this big felted blob the instant I submerged it in hot water.
I needed some colored wool for projects, and was even planing on buying some, but since I hate buying what I can make myself, I thought I would give it a try, and just see. It turned out to be easy, easy, easy. The colors are beautiful, it did not felt at all, and it's so much cheaper this way! All I did was very gently push the wool down into the dye bath, let it sit for a few minutes, then scoop it up with a long spoon. The water drains out of it quickly, so there is no need to squeeze it. I then put it in a colander and ran cool water over it, and let it dry. I then got to use some of it to make the "fire" in the doll campfire!
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