One of my favorite quotes from my long-ago interview with Fred Rogers arose in response to my question about if he had a memory of his mother knitting. “I do remember my mother doing things … with needles.” It sounded downright sinister.
I’ve been doing things with needles lately, too. I took a needle-felting class with Anna, Nancy and Vicki, up in Kensington, taught by Elaine Chu. We made only 2D things that day (I felted hearts onto a wool notebook cover) so I later had to teach myself how to make 3D creations. The very first thing I attempted was a wee chick.
And then there was the mouse:
And then there were a few other things, and then the crow. I sent a picture of it to Mom and she replied that it was too dark and gloomy, and suggested I made it a red-winged blackbird, so I did. Anna called it a black-winged redbird. The good thing about felting in black is that you can’t see the bloodstains from all those pricked fingers.
And then one day while I was hanging with Anna, a turtle sprung from my needles.
And finally, my most ambitious project yet:
