Decorating my world
What is the funniest, strangest or most unusual thing you have knitted or crocheted?
I tend to get carried away. There was a time when I crocheted animals (amigurumi) like there’s no tomorrow. Professor Kwaadkat, Farmer Piggy, Mrs Hare, Ballerina Kitty, Snake, VetKat, the Ducky, Henrietta Hippo, Purple Giraffe, Sausage Dog, the Troll and many more. My zoo and the arthritic pain in my hands grew by the day. Then, one day… I was over it.
I decided to make blankets. Afghans for everyone! Granny Squares, Ripple, C2C, stripey, scrappy, checkered, vintage, chunky; you name it, I made it.
Then there was the hat and head band phase. And the sock phase. And colourful bunting for my garden phase.
The phase that I think I loved most, was knitting and crocheting for my dogs and cats. They are so non-judgemental. Once I made a cocoon cat bed for Meraai as we all know how cats love to hide inside objects like boxes and crates. She however decided it’s safer to sleep on the roof of her cocoon bed. So… the entire project collapsed despite the dowel stick framework. She seemed happy though.
Another time I made a pink ballerina tutu for Moomin the Jack Russel. The bodice was crocheted and finished off neatly with a satin ribbon bow. Another time I made her a little pink and white stripey winter sweater – a friend of mine declared that Moomin looked like a moving toilet roll holder.
Straatwolf aka Lizzie, our rescue pup from TEARS Animal Rescue, got a custom-made knitted harness in fuchsia pink.
Another less successful project was my “Save the Rhino” drive. I took part in a muddy rainy 5km Fun Run for rhino conservation, I stuck a rhino sticker on my car and declared those regarding rhino horn an aphrodisiac, idiots. I took my drive further: I crocheted a rhino horn hat for Moomin – with straps that tied the hat under her chin. I thought she looked fabulous and made a difference in her very own unique way. My children however, were teenagers at that stage. They could not stop sniggering and begged me not to let Moomin wear her hat in public. Apparently Moomin’s horn resembled something completely different…
My latest creation is a cotton cover for Buksie, the Jimny. (A Buksie in Afrikaans refers to a short, stocky person.)
So: what is the most unusual project you have ever embarked on?
