By Nickole Dahl
Voyageur Press columnist
When Mike called me about writing a Christmas column, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to come up with a topic. I started an appropriately syrupy column, but it wasn’t really clicking. Then I downloaded my CRAFT Pattern Podcast.
As terribly geeky as it sounds, there is a website that delivers a weekly podcast of free craft patterns, and I am a subscriber. Some of the patterns are pretty good, while some of them are a little scary. I’m in it mostly for the crochet patterns, the knitting ones I forward to my sister.
A couple weeks ago I was surprised by a cute origami diagram. This week’s pattern was for Christmas ornaments made by recycling cards, and, at first glance, it definitely falls in the little bit scary category.
In almost every Christmas movie, TV special, or commercial there are the obligatory bad sweater jokes. I’ve never really related to those jokes, because I come from a family of some really skilled knitters and have received some great handmade gifts over the years. However, those jokes became crystal clear as I scrolled through the latest pattern.
There is a short introduction in which the crafter talks about being “well underway” in her Christmas knitting, which left her with very little free time. Hence the appeal of making these super quick ornaments.
Sounds good so far – until you see the picture. The ornaments are hideous! My first thought was, “What does her knitting look like? Man, am I glad I’m not getting any gifts from that lady!”
The ornaments are made by cutting the desired shape from an old card and two pieces of felt. The card stock is sewed between the two pieces of felt using the blanket stitch. Details are added with beads, embroidery thread and buttons. The ironic thing is, they would be pretty cute if she had spent more time on them.
Then a strange thing happened; the more I studied them, the more charming the ornaments seemed (or maybe that was just me feeling guilty for making fun of somebody’s knitting without having seen it).
Looking at the uneven stitches in picture reminded me of second grade Sunday school. We made ornaments by sewing together angel pieces cut out of white felt. We stuffed our ornaments with cotton balls and added a chunk of wide ribbon for the wings. We added little gold halos, and for the finishing touch, we cut our face out of a picture brought from home and glued it in place.
Get it? We were our parents’ little angels.
My brother and I each made one of those ornaments, and they are my dad’s most cherished. He always makes sure they get a prominent place on the tree. So, maybe there is something to poorly stitched felt ornaments after all. Perhaps I should give this pattern a whirl. What would make a better stocking stuffer than a handmade gift from the heart?
