Thursday, January 10, 2013

Toy-Making (and Other Gifts)

Christmas (and birthdays and other special days) always seems to catch me by surprise.  I'm one of those people that is not born with a good sense of time (my husband will agree with this:).  Every year I have lots of ideas of making gifts, but realistically I need to work on those ideas starting in May, and in May I'm usually busy thinking of other things.

My daughter, however, is wonderfully creative, productive and efficient, and not hampered with the curse of procrastination.  She had another good year of Christmas gift-giving.  In a matter of two weeks or so, she made three stuffed toys.  All of them were from the book Wild and Wonderful Fleece Animals by Linda Carr.  This is a great book.  My daughter has made most of the animals in the book, (including a duck, walrus, penguin, dog, and a pig) and they have all turned out looking fabulous. 

Here are the three she made this past December, all destined for younger relatives:
A Panda
A Leopard
A Brown Bear

A better look at the bear's face
Then she also knitted this sweet baby for a little cousin:
Sleeping Baby
This little baby was made from the Snuggle Dolly pattern by Tina, who blogs at Tea and Woolly Socks.  The only change my daughter made was to convert the flat pattern to knitting in the round because that is what she prefers.

And look at the present I received from my friend Elizabeth of MrsThomasinaTittlemouse fame:

It's a wonderful zippered pouch to keep on-the-go projects in. I promptly filled it with my long-suffering hexagons and took it on my cross-country journey, where I was able to sew hexagons together in the car.  Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for your gift and also for your thoughtfulness xx

9 comments:

  1. Your daughter is amazing (no surprise given the craft skills in her genes :)
    With y'alls' recommendation I asked for Klutz crochet for Christmas and its been so helpful! Hope to see you soon

    a.w.

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  2. Your daughter has obviously inherited your sewing skills. My favourite is the leopard - so cute!

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  3. Those animals and baby doll are precious. Sometimes fleece is on sale at winter's end, so she should be able to make a lot of them. The pouch is nice, too. That's what I would like to learn to make.

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  4. Your daughter is very talented! Those soft toys look flawless and so professional, she is a natural. I try to make gifts to save money but sometimes I just run out of time!

    Gillian x

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  5. Cute win and so practical!

    Your daughter is truly talented. Love the sweet little faces on her creations. I think that she has found a niche...will she open an Etsy shoppe?

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  6. She is so talented...I just love her work! What a joy to have a daughter who enjoys creating! She will continue to remain a joy all the days of your life...you have shared and taught her well.
    Hugs

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  7. We all know where she gets her talents, gifted by God and taught by you.
    beautiful job indeed.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Blessings,
    Sue

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  8. Your daughter is so clever, Angela! Those toys are absolutely super and she's made so many! Really glad the project bag is proving useful - I find mine just so practical for projects on the move especially in the car where otherwise I drop hooks, scissors etc in crevices where they are difficult to retrieve from! Glad therefore it provided a safe haven for your hexagons on your snowy trip! E xx

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  9. Wow! Emma, I'm impressed. Those animals look professional. She surely is talented for one so young. Let's plan to meet in Tennessee this summer. Will you be going over? I can go anytime since it's only a five hour trip. I'd love to see you again!

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