Last week, I did a bunch of sewing. I made leggings and a t-shirt for Anne, a baby blanket, two pair of shorts for Evva, and a dress for a one year old. Some of these makings were prototypes I was experimenting with, and I had children and friends to give them to, but the dress (and bloomers) for the one year old, I made because I loved the look and wanted to see how difficult it would be to make (not nearly as hard as I thought). But, I have no one to give it too! I loved this little dress. I’ll hold on to it (maybe sell it?), and see what happens.
Then, Hythe came up to me this weekend and said, I want to make something. What do you want to make? I want to weave, he said, and brought me a craft book with a picure of a loom set up inside a shoe box. So, I found a shoe box, put in some warp yarns and gave him a large darning needle and yarn. He loved it. He made his own pattern of yarn colors, and started out with the ambitious plan to weave a blanket. I told him the loom would only allow each piece to be a few inches wide, so he said he would weave lots of them and I could sew them together. I think he soon realized that a weaving the size of a coaster was good enough, and satisfying enough. I don’t know anything about how to take handwoven things off of a loom, or how to finish them, but I did my best and tied everything together. Hythe trimmed up all the ends and he was so proud of his little woven coaster (or hot pad, as he calls it). I have been using it to set my tea on for the last two mornings, and he likes to see it being used.