roving to go with our just-purchased drop spindles. A gray-haired woman with an armload of color looked at me and shook her head with a slight smile on her face. “You know you are taking a real chance bringing her in here,” she said. I must have looked puzzled, because my daughter has always had excellent shop manners (she definitely got the shopping gene from me), and I thought the woman was implying that children shouldn’t be shopping in this setting. Thenshe smiled more broadly and said, “You are setting that poor child on the path to a lifelong fiber addiction!” “Well,” I said with a laugh, “it’s too late for me; she might as well come along for the ride.” Everyone nearby smiled and we bought our roving and moved on.
It was easy for me to laugh. I already knew about my own fiber addiction and the kid had always been more interested in the shopping than the crafting. I am sure if I had some other type of lifestyle, I mean hobby, and if there were weekend-long festivals with cool things to buy, she would have been equally interested (or not interested, as the case may be). Plus being little and cute has its advantages. Some wonderful vendors at Mecca gave her gifts of fiber and tools because she was polite and interested—and free stuff is almost better than shopping. I guess in the back of my mind I figured the fiber gene had skipped a generation—she was interested enough because it surrounds her, but the attraction to the needle arts was not rampant on a molecular level.
But this summer, everything changed. We were at yet another yarn and fiber event, and in the interest of having something to do while I schmoozed (or more likely, because she heard that the attendees of this particular class, Crochet for Kids, were getting a really awesome goody bag), she took a crochet class. The instructor was great (and not me, a definite advantage), her friend was sitting next to her (and has a preexisting interest in crochet), the goody bag was in fact awesome and full of yarn sure to warm the cockles of an almost-twelve-year-old heart (it was brightly colored! And fuzzy! And sparkly! And all three at once!!!), and she learned how to make a really fast project (instant gratification). She had a great time and was smiling ear to ear when I collected her from class.
She crocheted all that afternoon and into the evening, presenting some of her friends with her very first handmade flowers. She crocheted in the car on the way home during a fairly long drive. She crocheted afterwe got home—making flowers for her friends and bags for every electronic item she ever owned (a not inconsiderable number). She pulled out the stash she had been given over the years, unearthed a wicker basket in which to store it, and started poring over crochet books. The next time we had to go out on an errand that we knew would involve some tedious waiting time, I reached out for my tote bag full of yarn and saw that she already had hers on her arm. The fiber gene, hiding all this time, had kicked in with a vengeance. My child was hooked!
And I was delighted. Does that make me a bad mother?
Part Three
Goth Princess Toilet Paper Doll
Well, if we are going to make toilet paper covers shaped like women, let’s at least advance to this century, no?
I had more fun putting this together than I ever did making a Southern belle! Let your (subversive crocheter’s) mind run free and accessorize your Goth princess as you see fit.
Materials:
About 150 yards worsted-weight (CYCA 4, medium) 100% acrylic in black or another tragic, dark colorway. The model shown used half a skein of Caron Simply Soft in Black, color #9727.
Crochet hook size H/8/5 mm, or size needed to get gauge
Roll of toilet paper
Bargain-brand 11- to 12-inch “fashion doll”—the cheaper, the better as you are going to abuse it!
Permanent-bond glue for attaching pieces to the doll
Assorted crafts supplies for accessories. Go wild, but I used: white glue to stiffen the
It was easy for me to laugh. I already knew about my own fiber addiction and the kid had always been more interested in the shopping than the crafting. I am sure if I had some other type of lifestyle, I mean hobby, and if there were weekend-long festivals with cool things to buy, she would have been equally interested (or not interested, as the case may be). Plus being little and cute has its advantages. Some wonderful vendors at Mecca gave her gifts of fiber and tools because she was polite and interested—and free stuff is almost better than shopping. I guess in the back of my mind I figured the fiber gene had skipped a generation—she was interested enough because it surrounds her, but the attraction to the needle arts was not rampant on a molecular level.
But this summer, everything changed. We were at yet another yarn and fiber event, and in the interest of having something to do while I schmoozed (or more likely, because she heard that the attendees of this particular class, Crochet for Kids, were getting a really awesome goody bag), she took a crochet class. The instructor was great (and not me, a definite advantage), her friend was sitting next to her (and has a preexisting interest in crochet), the goody bag was in fact awesome and full of yarn sure to warm the cockles of an almost-twelve-year-old heart (it was brightly colored! And fuzzy! And sparkly! And all three at once!!!), and she learned how to make a really fast project (instant gratification). She had a great time and was smiling ear to ear when I collected her from class.
She crocheted all that afternoon and into the evening, presenting some of her friends with her very first handmade flowers. She crocheted in the car on the way home during a fairly long drive. She crocheted afterwe got home—making flowers for her friends and bags for every electronic item she ever owned (a not inconsiderable number). She pulled out the stash she had been given over the years, unearthed a wicker basket in which to store it, and started poring over crochet books. The next time we had to go out on an errand that we knew would involve some tedious waiting time, I reached out for my tote bag full of yarn and saw that she already had hers on her arm. The fiber gene, hiding all this time, had kicked in with a vengeance. My child was hooked!
And I was delighted. Does that make me a bad mother?
Part Three
Goth Princess Toilet Paper Doll
Well, if we are going to make toilet paper covers shaped like women, let’s at least advance to this century, no?
I had more fun putting this together than I ever did making a Southern belle! Let your (subversive crocheter’s) mind run free and accessorize your Goth princess as you see fit.
Materials:
About 150 yards worsted-weight (CYCA 4, medium) 100% acrylic in black or another tragic, dark colorway. The model shown used half a skein of Caron Simply Soft in Black, color #9727.
Crochet hook size H/8/5 mm, or size needed to get gauge
Roll of toilet paper
Bargain-brand 11- to 12-inch “fashion doll”—the cheaper, the better as you are going to abuse it!
Permanent-bond glue for attaching pieces to the doll
Assorted crafts supplies for accessories. Go wild, but I used: white glue to stiffen the
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