Housework isn’t always boring.
I was going through some things in the house yesterday, when I decided to take a peek in the old toy box – not Goodnight’s toys – but Angel’s. I made most of her toys when she was little. As a knitter, I never seemed to tire of knitting dolls and clothes, and all sorts of animal friends for her.
One of the old faces smiled at me when I was cleaning yesterday. It wasn’t my most ambitious knitting undertaking ever, but it certainly was fun. I knit my daughter a Jack-in-the-Box. I knit Jack and I knit his box, too. Oh . . . there was no crank or music inside to go with the box. That was the ‘play pretend’ part of our fun. I taught Angel how to hold her hand over the cover and sing “All Around the Mulberry Bush” and then let go of the knit box lid at just the right moment to let ‘Jack’ out.
To make the Jack-in-the-Box, I began with the spring. I got the spring custom wound to the height, diameter, and tension that I wanted. I needed the spring before I could start knitting because I needed to knit a tube to cover the spring. After that, it was just like making a doll without legs. Jack’s box was nearly a cubic foot in volume and each of the six sides had clown graphics knit in them: six different clowns. Over time, I decided that the box was too large to store. I detached Jack (and his spring) from the box and kept him. I still think he has the happiest face in the toy box.
Ah … those old toys. I often wonder how people seem to easily dispose of their children’s playthings (especially in today’s disposable world). As you know I have so many of my children’s toys which are being played with again and it’s lovely to see their second life.
I didn’t knit any toys, although my son’s old teddy bear wears a blue jumper I knitted for him – which he wore when he was about 6 months old. Hard to believe that he wore it when I see him now!
I love Jack’s face – such a character and what a great hat!
Dancing: I enjoyed reading your blog posts about getting your children’s toys ready to be used again. That was fun to follow. And it’s great that the jumper you knit for you son is on the teddy bear! As a child, I had a doll that was just the right size to wear a baby jumper, bonnet, and bib that my mother had knitted for me. I still have them! Goodnight was never much for playing with dolls, but she plaeyd with them once in a while. She was given many new toys, but she loved playing with my old dolls. Some of my old toys got a third life!