Someone whose mom bought a KnitOwl handsewn toy twenty years ago contacted me today with a picture of the much-loved kangaroo and it's tiny joey, intact after many washings and adventures. It was heartwarming - and I remember many times when our own daughter E lost her own kangaroo's baby joey and we had to go looking for it among all the toys before she could sleep at night. The fabric had originally come from a men's cotton shirt - and I had chosen it at a thrift store to make some quilts with. The entire toy except for one seam was made with tiny stitches with a hand sewing needle and hand quilting thread, from my original hand drafted pattern. The joey stood only 2.5 inches tall.
I think sometimes about making some more toys - and putting them up, but as I told her, life gets in the way and I am always off to do something else. Even last week, I was wondering about making another one of the dinosaur world type toys I had sent to another friend's daughter - or the forest rabbit log toy that E had (and we spent some time with that bunny getting lost, as well, as it was supposed to live in the log *ha* and it had some leaves for food etc.)
Most of all, it was nice to hear that it had been loved, and brought joy to a child - which was the entire point of making them in the first place. I tried to - through some sort of Velveteen Rabbit magic - put some sort of personality and happy feeling into every one hoping it would carry through in some way.
Thank you for sharing your memories with me, and letting me see that the craftsmanship really did hold up very well over the years.
Marie at KnitOwl Toys (formerly MarieMeyer.etsy.com)
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