A basket made from sisal twine

I've really been enjoying trying new fibers and trying my hand at basketmaking, as well - for use around our house and for the experience of making them.  Last week I picked up some sisal twine at the store - and with a medium large crochet hook and some downtime - I made this.  Each side was made flat and then it was all sewn together with very strong cotton crochet thread - then the handles were crocheted on with the yellow cotton yarn.  I have ideas for making another one with less sewing... but more shape to worry about as I go along... The material was very tough on my wrist initially.. but the results were worth it.   And - it only took one 525 yard ball of twine, which cost about a dollar... which is kind of amazing.

chemistry and rutabagas

I was playing with my chemistry ideas after doing some modules at Khan Academy, seeking out textbooks on the info that has been going round and round in my brain, and while waiting for our new toaster oven to work its slow magic on a rutabaga from the store.  Nice afternoon :)

This is a methane molecule.  I hope to do ethane and propane and make it a three piece set.

Hobby Horse

How to make a hobby horse:
materials :
A stick or dowel of decent strength and about 1/2 inch in diameter.
Fabric
thread
yarn of good strength
buttons for an older child or safety eyes for a younger one. You can also use fabric paint or a sharpie marker for a young child.
Glue - Tacky or stronger

Cut a 'sock head' shape, and also cut reversed - 2 pieces. Give the 'sock head' a good long neck - you will need this for the glue and yarn ties to hold it on.

Sew inside-out placing yarn into seams to form hairlines. To form the hair wrap the yarn around your hand or a short span between two dresser knobs over and over until it is a thick wad. Spread it out and place it centerline along the seam so half of the loops are inside and half of them are outside. Sew them into the seam and we will trim the outside loops later.

If making unicorn shape, sew and stuff a triangle of yellow or orange fabric for the horn and place that in the seam, otherwise just put yarn all the way up and down from forelock to about 4 inches above the neck bottom. If you are using safety eyes, mark and place them now.

Turn right-side out and stuff head with stuffing to within 4 inches of the bottom.
As you are stuffing it make sure to keep a hole in the center bottom of the stuffing - Coat the dowel end with glue and place it up into the hole. Keep stuffing and adding some glue right around the dowel until you are four inches from the bottom of the sock head. Set head carefully aside to allow some of that glue to set.

Take this time to cut and sew a pair of oblong ears. It is your choice how you attach them to the head. I sewed the horn down a little more onto the head once it was stuffed and then attached ears to either side of it folding the corners of the sewn ear pieces together to make 'folded' ears. I inserted a piece of plastic canvas into each ear to give it stability, but you can stuff them or put cardboard in them - this is not a washable toy. If you are using buttons, mark and sew them on now.

Get a needle and thread and sew a -.-.-.-.- pattern around the end of the stuffed area of the sock head and pull the thread like a drawstring to pull the head tightly to the bottom. Add more glue along the dowel between this sewing and the bottom of the sock head. Fold the bottom edge of the sock head under and start to wrap yarn around the glued fabric while the glue is still wet. Criss-cross and tie the yarn around each side each time as you wrap up and down, forming a full wrap from below the sock head fabric up as close to the bottom of the stitching as possible. Pull the yarn very tight as you do this and wipe away excess glue. Let dry for several hours to make sure the glue has set.

Make sure the head is well seated with a _slight_ tug, and then set aside to dry.

Expect this toy to get dirty, and don't expect to put it through the washing machine!

More Cotton Slug Attack pictures

More pictures of Mark and Esme with the cotton toy slug the other night. I really need to make more but won't get more time until this weekend. I've also got a request to make a 'plush foot' for a sandal company... which I've done one mockup for and need to make another.

Strange Toys off the Cuff

Esme's new strange toys
I was watching the way Esme was using her fingers around one of her fuzzy blocks yesterday and got this idea. She needed something with lots of corners to grab and turn around in her hands. Something soft and colorful, that she could bounce around in her seat, grab and smack etc...

My first thought was to make some big felt shapes - cone, ball etc... but when I sat down at the sewing machine I just went 'off the cuff' with my felt scraps bag and ended up with these.


Baby Bird Ball and Ziggurat
These are some of the strangest and alien looking baby toys I've ever made ;)

However, what they lack in sophistication they definitely make up for in baby approval. Esme loves them already. She squeals at them just because they're colorful, and bounces them around with her legs and squeals some more because she can make them move. I'm going to try to perfect the ideas and make them a bit more regular, better constructed etc...

KnitOwl toys stepping up

Aliens for 2008

I'm making what I hope will be a lasting committment to keep small toys in production for the shop. I've been lacking there in favor of our Ebay store and custom orders - and well, of course, Esme ;)

If I want the handmade toy shop to be successful, I need to be putting things up every day or every few days to draw people's eyes. For that, I need to be working on a small handmade baby toy, softie, bird pincushion or some other project at all times. Unlike the Ebay store where we need to buy inventory to host in our store - I can sit down with a few materials and make inventory for the Etsy store.

I emailed a lady who wanted me to send a batch of Alien Monster Dolls to her shop in England last year. I asked her if she is still interested, and we'll see if she gets back. I'm open to other suggestions for promotion as well. I wish I had more connections for knowing where to sell or promote!

I'm also a giddy mommy over some really simple things. I've been waiting for Esme to start grabbing things beside my hand. It's an important step towards her exploring the world around her. She has begun to wrap one of her hands around the little lamb toy Jeanne gave to her. She then squeals with delight and rubs her fingers back and forth in the fuzzy surface. I also took out the Baby Einstein blocks Susan sent back before Esme was born. She spent time staring at them on the bed yesterday and also making lots of noises when I would rattle one, or change what surface was facing her. Simple things, but I'm very happy about them :))

Beaky

I signed up for a swap called 'Handmade Happiness.' You sign up through swap-bot and send two handmade items to your partner. It sounds like a fun and quick thing to do! Link for swap page: here

Stuffed owl made from an original pattern, available here. Mark suggested the beak curve. Handmade toy by KnitOwl 6.5 inches sitting, 11 inches standing.

Toymaker's Rant: Etsy used to have a lot more 'quality' toymakers, people who took some visible time with their toys when making them. Lately I see a lot of amateurish work and things that look more glued together or hanging together by luck alone than that good quality work I was used to getting inspiration from.

Quality toymakers like Hop Skip Jump, Loobylu, Jhoanna Aranez and Little Birds, all of whom I greatly admire.

I'm wondering where all the other 'artisans' went? I still see some, new and old, on Flickr. A lot of them have their own shops now..

Etsy used to be great because we were all in the same place. It was a benefit to post toys there because it put you into a search engine that was used by lots of people every day. It was like Ebay, but everything was handmade by a real person (often with a blog, who you could start a conversation up with). Not to say there aren't still a lot of nice things on Etsy... their yarn, beads, clothing, handbags etc... are still on the most part looking very professional.

Note: my work is nowhere near as 'professional' as those artists I listed above, but I do put some time into making sure my toys will stand up to normal handling and not look thrown-together. I should invest more in some materials like wool or linen, but does that make the toys too fancy for real children to get to play with them?