Mina – Page 3 – Organizing Threads

May 13, 2014May 13, 2014

Pass it on

I remember the year that my mother made clothes for my dolls as a Christmas present. We didn’t get a lot for Christmas; as small children we each got something, but even that stopped by the time we reached our teens.

But one Christmas, when I was four or five I knew my Mom, after we kids were in bed, was still up sewing. I don’t know if I knew it then, though I did later, my Mom did not like to sew, she sewed because she had to! So Christmas morning I awoke to a wardrobe for my doll — I don’t remember how many pieces, but I know along with the usual dresses there was a little coat — that impressed me!

As I have four older brothers and two younger I felt obliged to keep up with the boys and didn’t spend a lot of time playing with dolls, though Mom tried hard to encourage me. My brothers also had a doll each, but they were more inclined to other kinds of play; though they would sometimes play “house” with me.

Barb with dolls and dog — Barb and friends

I enjoyed sewing much more than my Mom ever did. When my kids were little “Cabbage Patch Kids” were all the rage. I started making soft sculpture dolls for sale. For her 5th birthday I made Trina a large doll she named “Randy.” Not only does she still have that doll, but Mina loves to play with it.

Trina's 5th birthday -- with Randy, her new doll. — Trina’s 5th birthday — with Randy, her new doll.

Trina loved sewing even more than I. She not only sews, but designs and drafts patterns to sell as well. Although she made a doll for her new daughter, she also worked with Mina to make her own doll (after reading the book “Fanny”) when she was only four years old.

So where will Mina take this tradition?

May 7, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

January 5, 2014January 6, 2014

Ladybugs!

I have a special affection for ladybugs. Started back when Volker wrote me letters decorated with the little critters.

My granddaughter knows that I like them. She informed soon after arriving at my house before Christmas that her ladybug slippers don’t fit anymore. Naturally I promised to make her new ones. (The previous ones had been store bought.)

I looked for patterns online, but didn’t find anything that quite fit. So I decided to wing it. I am not good at writing down the patterns I make up. I like to custom fit things like sweaters, hats or slippers. Mina was at Nana & Poppa’s house when I started the slippers so I guessed (pretty accurately) at the size of her foot. I didn’t buy anything, just used balls of yarn from my stash.

For the sole I wanted a very heavy yarn — the only one I had was navy blue — with dense crocheting, so I used a 3mm hook. I started with a chain 15 stitches long and using a single crochet worked both sides of the chain, putting 3 sc in each end ch to turn. On the second row I put 2 sc in the first 2 stitches (turning stitches), then sc in the next seven, switched to dc, putting 2 dc in each of the turning stitches below; continue in a similar manner down the other of the sole. The third row was essentially a repeat of the second, using dc at the toe end of the sole, and sc for the rest.

I didn’t have heavy yarn in black or red — and the slippers had to be black & red! So I used double strands of both colours. Because I wanted red with black spots I carried one colour along all the time. To learn how to do this visit http://www.crochettoday.com/how-to/how-work-tapestry-crochet. The upper is made of 6 rows. The first two rows are a sc in each stitch around, changing colours as appropriate (my ladybugs are not identical twins). On row three, four and five I used a decrease dc for the head to create the toe shape. The sixth row is a single crochet all around.

For the eyes I just used off-white yarn with a black centre. The antennae are made with a chain 4, dc, sc on side of dc and slip stitches down the chain.

Tomorrow I must go to the post office to send some “Mina Mail”!

Mina has also requested a Ladybug toy, so that will likely be my next project.

P.S. Before mailing the slippers I used some (very old) fabric paint to put dots on the bottom of the sole; when Mina was here and wearing only one slipper she was able to “skate” on my hardwood floor. I hope this will prevent the slippers from sliding quite so nicely.

December 31, 2013

Christmas Eve Dedication

In the Mennonite Church babies are not baptized, adults are. However, we do have a Parent/Child Dedication service. As part of the Christmas Eve service at Bloomingdale Mennonite Church (after the ice storm put an end to Sunday’s service) my little grandson, Volker William Burkard Gehiere was dedicated with his parents and the whole congregation.

Text written by Trina, read by Gary:

“I think when we name our children the names we chose are often really wishes we would like to bestow upon them. There is something that speaks to us in the name that we want to pass to our child, it may be frivolous or psychological but there is something.
In the case of our little boy it is more so the latter. The wishes are many and varied but most if not all go back to the name and the man he was named for, his grandfather, Volker Willi Walter Burkard. We wish him to be kind and compassionate with a great sense of humour, a maker, someone with a wonderful spiritual life, a beautiful loving person.
Today I hope we are helping him in some small way fulfill those wishes.”

Barb Smith-Morrison’s blessing as she carried Volker through the congregation:

Volker, God loves you. May you grow to love God and to serve humanity. May the gracious Spirit of Christ and the fellowship of God’s people bless your life this day and all days.

The congregation’s commitment:

Gary and Trina, we support your calling as parents and accept our calling to love, support and encourage you. We offer the gift of ourselves, our lives and example to nurture your family as you grow.
Volker and Mina, we pledge you our care and love. We promise to encourage you as you grow into all that God has created you to be. We welcome you.

December 19, 2013

Ripley’s Aquarium

Yesterday I met Trina, Gary, Mina and Volker at Ripey’s Aquarium in Toronto. What a fun place that is! I highly recommend it for a good place for a family to spend a couple of hours. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of pictures because my camera isn’t wonderful in low light and Mina moves too much for the light conditions. However, I’ve put the best I got into a slideshow.