Knitting by hand, both crochet and knitting needles,— one of the most ancient handicrafts. With its help, you can quickly create an exquisite exclusive item, be it a sweater, dress, hat or even a coat. A woman who masters this art will always be able to dress her loved ones in beautiful and bright warm clothes or decorate any outfit with skillful lace weaving. Now the world of knitted fashion prefers products made of semi-woolen, woolen and synthetic yarn. Things knitted from it according to patterns look extremely presentable and stylish. Handicrafts can also contribute to the unique design of a home interior: crocheted curtains, pillowcases, napkins and so on look very original. The ability to crochet and knit often helps out young mothers, who can not only dress their children in exclusive high-quality things without significant costs, but also knit them interesting, very funny toys. However, rather labor-intensive knitting can be easily replaced by the production of products on knitting machines, which has already become widespread today. Industrial knitted items are in great demand, because their quality is not much inferior to hand-knitted items. However, such items are still produced in fairly large quantities, while knitting allows you to create a unique item, completely different from those that already exist. Knitted items have one feature: they almost always correspond to fashion trends. And what was knitted a dozen years ago remains quite relevant today. Therefore, old knitting magazines can always be used, regardless of the styles they present and the structure of the patterns. Every woman can learn to knit, if she wants. Knitting lessons allow you to master this science quite quickly and well. And a crochet school gives you the opportunity to learn how to create beautiful lace products that can decorate both the appearance of their owner and her home. Another significant advantage of being able to knit with both knitting needles and crochet hooks is the possibility of earning a good income. Such things are valued quite highly, and there are always many people who want to buy them. As a result, a skilled knitter will not only be able to significantly save the family budget by creating clothes with her own hands, but also increase it by doing custom work. In a word, the ability to knit is a big plus for a woman, and each of us should learn this handicraft.
Toys with their own hands in the old days and today
Toys have been part of people's everyday life for a very long time.Today, there is a huge variety of toys for children on store shelves, from plastic cubes, rubber balls, soft animals to real masterpieces in the form of miniature railways, small copies of cars and the like. Buying a toy for your baby is not a problem, the main thing is to have money. However, in ancient times, children were entertained with whatever they could: fathers made wooden pipes, cut out fairy-tale characters, mothers made birds from clay. All available materials were used: soft stone, mammoth tusks, leather and so on. On the territory of ancient Russian settlements - Kolomna, Kyiv, Novgorod and Moscow - archaeologists have found toys that date back to the 10th-15th centuries. The main characters of those times were horses, bears, hares and other animals. Military themes were also popular: children were given figurines of horsemen, soldiers and others. A feature of folk art of those times can be considered the fact that the features of real heroes - prototypes of toys - were not copied. Craftsmen only emphasized their most striking features. With the passage of time and the development of civilization, approaches to folk art naturally changed. Techniques for making children's toys gradually improved, more and more new materials appeared, and local traditions developed. In Rus', folk craftsmen often turned to yarn, flax and straw. Hard products made of wood, bone, clay and stone eventually lost their relevance, since, firstly, a child could easily get injured by such toys, and secondly, they did not arouse much interest in children. Today, such products are more likely to be souvenirs. Modern women have increasingly begun to turn to folk art, many clubs have opened for lovers of handicrafts, where you can learn to sew, embroider, make jewelry with your own hands. One of the newfangled trends is crochet toys. Mastering the technology of their manufacture is not as difficult as it may seem at first glance. It is not a problem to master it, the main thing is to have the desire and, of course, to buy the necessary materials. The process of creating children's toys is very interesting, so those who initially decided to just try to make one or two items, subsequently become so carried away that they become real professionals in this business. In addition, such an innocent hobby can become your additional income, because today things made with your own hands - be it jewelry, shawls, scarves, sweaters, postcards and other branches of hand-made - are very popular. Knitting techniques vary: from the simplest to more complex, on knitting needles or crochet. Usually, a simple knitting method is used to make a small toy - single crochet or, say, stocking stitch. The most difficult thing is to give the creation the desired shape, as well as the correct finishing.
Chest of the needlewoman: materials for the manufacture of toys
Naturally, those who have never picked it upknitting needles or a crochet hook, believe that making a toy with your own hands is incredibly difficult. But this is not true - you just need to study the theory and boldly move on to practice. The product may not work out the first time, but this is not a reason to be upset, because, as you know, "patience and work ...". Not only do such things have a special charm, warmth, invested in the personal creation of the needlewoman - they are also extremely useful for kids. The relief surface of a knitted toy contributes to the development of fine motor skills in a baby, with its help you can teach a child to distinguish colors, shapes and sizes of objects. In addition, you can have a great time spending family evenings, arranging puppet shows. A teddy bear, a bunny or, for example, a fairy-tale character, crocheted or knitted, is a great gift for a close friend or work buddy. Fortunately, there are a lot of patterns for making toys, there is plenty to choose from. And if you are seriously interested in needlework, it would be a good idea to attend a master class or take specialized courses. This will allow you to improve your skills and create more complex and unique things in the future. Now we will give some advice to beginner needlewomen regarding the necessary materials:
- In this case can not do without needles. They come in different sizes, which are indicated by numbers, starting from No. 1 to No. 12. The figure indicates the thickness of the needle - the higher it is, so, respectively, the needle is wider. However, it should be taken into account that the thickness of the two adjacent numbers is the same, but the length is different. If you use a dense fabric for toys, then it will be inconvenient to work with a thin needle.
- For the manufacture of soft products - pillows orzverushek - fit artificial fur with both long and short pile on a knitted basis. Silk, flowing fabrics should be used for sewing dresses and other wardrobe items. Sometimes the masters combine several techniques: for example, knit the trunk, and small parts - pens, legs, head, beak - are made from other material. In this case, the felt is ideal, because it does not crumble, and the cut edges do not need to be processed.
- Wool fabrics are great for decorationtoys. From them you can make hair, tail, embroider them with the details: the mouth, eyes and nose. For the same purposes, some use lurex, mulina, garus or colored silk. These threads can be worn clothes of little animals - a jacket, a hat, a dress, an apron - or other small items.
- As for packing, it is recommended hereuse cotton wool, foam rubber, sintepon or else sintepuh. It is better, of course, to give preference to synthetic materials, since they are lighter, more voluminous, do not stray and do not form clumps. And in order to make the frame of the future toy, a copper wire 2-2.5 millimeters thick will do.
- Do not forget about the bright accessories, - beads,glass beads, braids, buttons, fur, lace, rhinestones and so on - thanks to which your toy will become more expressive and interesting. Such materials give the product a completeness and finally form the image, giving it an individuality.
Today amigurumi have become very popular -miniature charming toys in the form of funny little animals. Their distinctive features are a large head, funny paws, tails and dark wide eyes. Very often such souvenirs are made in the form of keychains, fastened to backpacks, hung on mobile phones, used to decorate flower pots, and the bravest attach them to the brim of hats. Crochet amigurumi came to us from Japan, initially their prototypes were the heroes of local cartoons. However, today many of them have the image of some animal, a stylized person and even an inanimate object, endowed with a soul by the author - for example, incredibly popular toys in the form of a "muffin" with a funny face. And all this can be knitted, so experiment. We recommend reading:
