For Christmas the children received beautiful handspun, handknitted hats and scarves from their grandparents. My ever-so talented MIL had spun dyed merino samples and then plyed it with white merino. The resulting yarn is white with speckled lengths of colour, which created bands when knitted, almost tweedy. She knitted it up for the grandchildren and our three were so pleased that they have barely taken them off. On the sidelines, the grown-ups admired the hats so much that a few weeks after Christmas a package arrived with two big hats for us and some of the samples. Thank you Grandma.
As soon as the girls saw the samples they knew how they could put them to good use. Before Christmas, we had made some Waldorf styled dolls together. They were complete except for the head covering. We had planned to sew hats on, but for one reason or another, it just hadn’t happened. The dolls sulked in bedrooms over Christmas, always on show as a reminder of the unfinished project that they were, but not ready for play. Just gathering dust. So when the parcel arrived, the girls knew instantly what to do.
They spent time selecting the right colour for each doll. Arranging and rearranging until they were perfect. The hair was carefully sewn on and the dolls were truely transformed. No longer to be abandoned. Even better, as far as I was concerned, they were off the WIP list. Hurrah! I still have some of the samples which I hope to use in a felting project, just as long as I can keep them out of sight of the children. Watch this space.
