2/01/2010

The answer to all my problems is a 'pocket troll' ?!

I've got problems. Deep-seated problems that no amount of therapy will ever resolve....

Ok... just kidding on the deep-seated problems, but come on. Everyone has their quirks. For me, those quirks include not being able to:
  • Just sit still. I have to be doing something or making something all the time. If I'm just sitting, I'm either very sick or dead (by the way, please do check before throwing in the "dead" card. That could turn out to be a really bad situation).
  • Throw away scraps. It's not enough to use a ball of yarn all the way down to the last 3 yards. I want to use those last 3 yards too. Whether I put a little embellishment on something or just use the yarn to tie up bundles of sticks... I hate to waste any of it.
But, these two little quirks have created some friction for me. For one, I'm a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) sufferer and sometimes crochet just isn't in the picture for me. For anyone who doesn't know about the disease, I encourage you to check out this great link from The RA Warrior (RA 101). But in a nutshell, my hands can become painful and swollen and I've found that continuing to crochet through it is not the best solution.

As for the scrap yarn thing, I'm beginning to -- (Ok, so my husband would seriously laugh at my use of "beginning to")... but I'm beginning to amass quite a bit of yarn in quantities that are too small to crochet anything worthwhile.

I had been pondering both situations for a while and trying to figure out what to do when I discovered the most amazing device... the Clover Pom-Pom Maker. The other night, I decided to break mine out of the packaging and see what I could do with some of those yarn scraps.... and I made pop-poms.... boy, did I ever make pop-poms! After about 10 or 15, my husband asked me what I planned to do with them. Uh-oh. I didn't have an answer.

I played around with them and tried some different things, but today's result has been my favorite so far. I'm calling him a "pocket troll."


To make him, I dragged out some other scraps (this time, felt and embroidery floss), put on a strong cup of coffee and spread out by the fire place to get creative. Within about an hour and a half, this little guy was staring back at me. He has hand-embroidered features (eyes, nose, ears, and feet) and he allowed me to use up that last little bit of buttery purple-rainbow novelty yarn that I've been hoarding for so long. I sewed all the pieces on to him because I didn't want to mess up the texture of the yarn with glue and as an added bonus, the threads through his center made him a tougher finished piece. I still wouldn't try pulling his hair out though (he'll probably bite!)

So, I kept busy with something other than crochet and reduced my yarn stash... but the question now is will anyone want a pocket troll? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this little bugger!

2 comments:

  1. I Love him! :D

    I've listed your blog for the Sunshine Blog Award! You can see the list here: http://www.esshaych.blogpot.com :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. How adorable AND resourceful! Love your commentary about him as well!

    ReplyDelete

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