Friday, January 8, 2010

Adventures with Crafts

I am not a crafty person. When it comes to working with my hands, I don't have much patience or attention to detail. My Dad taught me how to crochet when I was 12, but I've only finished two crocheted projects. Because I get bored easily I'll put it away and then, when I return to it, I have to relearn how to work with the needles. I recently finished knitting a scarf that I began 3 years ago and the width grew by 30% by the time I finished because I didn't bother counting the stitches. Oops!

But I think that craftiness comes with being a stay-at-home mom, or maybe I've been inspired because many of my new friends are so creative. My friend Jillian showed me this book on making toys for your baby. It's based on Waldorf School ideas about creative development. I don't know much about the Waldorf School, but I do know they believe simple toys with fewer details help children develop their imagination. So their patterns are perfect for me because they're not very complicated and if I mess up it just stimulates my son's imagination even more, right?

With that in mind, here are my first attempts: chicks made from yarn fashioned into puff balls.

The one on the left is my first attempt. I think it looks the most like a chick. Aaron says the middle one looks like a Tribble from Star Trek:

The trouble with these is that I haven't figured out how to make them baby-proof because little ones can actually pull out the bits of yarn. Oops. At least I know my son has a developed pincer grasp.

I was most excited about making a knitted sheep. Except I can't remember how to knit, so I crocheted it.

Since I don't really know how to sew, I had trouble following the pattern for making the head shape. I think the neck isn't supposed to be that long. But it turned out pretty cute anyway, kind of like Eeyore. I just didn't expect it to be so big! But see how it doesn't have any markings for the eyes or mouth? That's the sort of plainness that the Waldorf School advocates. Less work for me!


Here are some felt chickens I made. These were a lot of fun -- my clumsy, wide stitches will only promote my son's creative development!

And finally, here's a felt horse. I made up the pattern myself, basing it on the same pattern of the felt chickens. Looks like my imagination is being developed as well!


I should add that LG isn't very interested in any of these toys yet. I tell myself that he's too young for imaginative play. After all, I don't think he really understands what horses or chickens are just yet. He enjoys his plastic blocks more than anything else right now. I'm sure that's developing his imagination just fine. In the mean time, I think I'm going to make him some felt food next. He doesn't know what eggs or carrots really look like, either, but it's fun for me.

Here's the tutorial for the felt food if you're interested: http://lyneya.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/tutorial-felt-banana-in-peel-or-corn-in-husk/