What Do You Call This?

I call it 'Corking', I know some people call it 'French Knitting', others call it 'Knitting Nancy' or 'Knitting Dollies'.  This was the first 'yarn craft' that I learned as a child.  I was quite small too maybe five years old.  It is a great winter craft for kids, particularly competitive siblings.    I 'Corked' miles of this stuff as a kid.  I used to have races with my cousins to see who could get theirs the longest.  They grew so long we had to braid them to stop them from getting tangled. I do not think I have ever seen anything actually made out of corking.  I think I was trying to make a rug for the living room!  I have always been good at 'biting off more than I could chew'.  At the 'Weaving, Spinning and Dyeing Guild' on Saturday these little 'Corking dollies, looms or whatever you call them had been made by one of the members they were sold for the grand total of 20p.  Mine used to be made out of an empty wooden cotton reel with tacks in.  Now wooden cotton reels are pretty tricky to come by.  I have used 'mass produced' Corking thingamejigs and they do not work well in my opinion, the plastic ones in particular are terrible.  I taught Euan how to 'Cork' tonight.  At first he was all flustered and crabby about it but very quickly he got the hang of it.  He has now been sitting quietly 'corking' for an hour.  He is busy making a coaster.  He keeps measuring and rolling it up and is very impressed with his progress.  He has his colours all planned out.

He wants it big enough for the mug to fit on and all the colours to show around the edge.  He is already talking about breaking 'World Records' for 'Corking' and going into business with me, him corking and me sewing it up.

He has suggested a Yard Sale once every couple of weeks selling our 'Corking' makes.  In the current economic climate this really could be worth a try.  I may get him his own Etsy Store.
            If you have children you need to keep quiet you could do worse than get them 'Corking'  there is a good tutorial Here.
             Oh no!  I am getting delusions of grandeur again.  Look at this beautiful French Knitted Bag Designed by Debbie Tomkies.

Debbie has a Blog Hue and Dye and is the proprietor for DT Craft and Design a 'must have a look' for hand dyers.  I did not know 'corking' could be turned into anything so beautiful.  I will place an order with Euan!

Wool Dolly

Tiny Makey Challenge

I remember my grandmother showing me how to make these Woolly Dolls when I was small.  Mine never progressed beyond the style shown in the picture below.  

http://www.momsandkids.co.uk/makewooldolly.tpl  This is a link with the details of how to make the basic version out of wool scraps.
Urbantortoise has a great blog and has written a post about these woolly dolls after a friend showed her vintage/antique ones made by her Grandmother.  There are fantastic pictures of these tiny little dolls with clothes and features added.  Many of us will remember making these as children and these crafts are a dying art if they are not passed on.  This would be a fantastic activity for anyone needing to occupy children for an hour or two, on a budget.  Urbantortoise has set a prize competition, with the winner selected at random for anyone who submits a picture of a dolly they have made over the next couple of weeks.  Nostalgia kicked in after reading this post and I set to work on my dolly immediately.  Here she is...Wearing a smart Green and Pink ensemble, the skirt has pretty floral detail, the whole outfit is set off with the bling of a sparkly necklace and she has a Butterfly hairclip for her long ginger hair.  She comes complete with a crochet hook and her Work in Progress is an unfinished crochet doily.  Her shoes are very scruffy (I think she has had a night on the town!)  Nice legs, shame about the face!  (She is only about 8cm tall).  I had too much fun making this!


Lucy The Crochet Diva