On Christmas day, however, the eldest daughter opened her gift to find not a doll, but a kit to make a doll. The mother had grown tired of making the dolls or had run out of time and had only completed two of them. She decided if the eldest daughter wanted a doll , she could make her own. At first this daughter was annoyed, was she not good enough to receive a completed doll? Why hadn't her mother just gotten her something else? The daughter was young, around 9 or so and couldn't understand why she hadn't received a doll like her sisters. Part of her thought that making her own doll would be fun and interesting, but part of her did it just to show her mom that she deserved a doll too. So she worked on the doll and it wasn't the nicest looking doll, but it wasn't the last doll she made either.
The first doll I ever made, she's old, worn, and somehow lost her clothing in all these years, but she's still around.
Unintentionally, the mother had set the girl down a path of crafting that would be a part of her life to vary degrees for a long time. In the end, the girl's stubbornness to show her mother, led her to find something she truly enjoyed doing.
My crafting started with making dolls. I haven't made a cloth doll in a couple of years and in all honesty, I miss it. So, pulled out my fabric today and cut up some pattern pieces for a doll:
I made some home-made spring rolls today:
Stuffed full of onions, peppers, chives, mushrooms, cabbage, cauliflower, and pork. Yummy!
Tomorrow - - Falling Leaves Yarn and I believe the blue/green Cascade 220 yarn has found its final reincarnation . . . but more on those tomorrow.
Funny how one little thing can start a lifetime of crafting. Maybe your story should be a lesson to all holiday knitters? If you don't finish it, package it up, and let the recipient discover the craft...I like it!
ReplyDeleteI used to make puppets, and it is a lot of fun to see little personalities emerge from a few pieces of fabric. Enjoy@
Everything in your post made me think about so many things. It brought back memories of two dolls my mother made for me. And how I learned to sew on a treadle machine. And the little English maid doll with gray roving hair and high button shoes I made for my first granddaughter. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the mother's fingers were sore and slightly bloody from all the needle pokes and didn't want to soil her "eldest and most precious daughter's" gift and new that her "eldest and most precious daughter" had hidden and amazing talents and wanted to give her the opportunity to unleash them, and there in lies the greatest gift of all, just guessing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing your crafting start!
ReplyDeletelovely story! those spring rolls look divine. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the video!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it with us.
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