Gidgets!

When I was teaching elementary school five years ago, I made these little crochet "Gidgets" out of left-over yarn for my students as incentive to do good work. They loved them and very much enjoyed collecting them in different colors. At one point I was making elaborate creatures, too, such as octopuses, starfish, and assorted ornaments. It was Gidget-mania at that school! Kids started to haunt me for them. Each Gidget took me about 5 minutes to make, and after the crochet part was done, it's was matter of gluing any small size wiggly eyes, and drawing on the mouth with fabric paint-- and they loved doing that part. This was more engaging, more satisfying, and more fun for students than giving them candy and food to motivate them.

A couple of days ago, I started making Gidgets again for my four-year-old son, and he is just as delighted by them as my elementary students were. He puts them on his trains for a ride, and builds homes and cars for them with his Lego blocks. He is even sleeping with a couple in his bed while I type. You have to admit, they're kinda cute! So while making this one, I decided to film the process on my iPhone to share with all of you. You have to click on this link to see the demo of how to make one on Photobucket.com. Blogger kept giving me an error message when I tried to upload it. Perhaps it's too long? Please excuse the production quality, mumbling, and interruptions-- I also had to readjust the camera in the second half. I was literally holding the phone under my chin while filming this. And please hold all comments about my bulb-shaped thumbs and chipping nail polish!

Meanwhile, here's another tea cozy I just finished today.

Stay tuned..