Dickensian Mice


When you finish the knitted sections of Alan Dart's ingenious Dickensian Outdoor Mice, you have a menagerie of small, unrecognizable pieces -- the flat strips for hands and feet, coat cuffs, scarf and bonnet string, ears, bonnet brim, and so on -- all with long yarn tails, ready for seaming. I was definitely groaning inwardly throughout much of the seaming for these mice, which took as much time if not more as the knitting  did -- but I think the undeniable charm of these mice is that as you put them together, it feels like you're bringing them to life. I've made toys before, like a fairy or poodle, but Dart's mice are so thoughtfully detailed (a quality throughout Dart's patterns) that they felt particularly special.

I kept giggling when I finished. The mice were so delightfully characterized, and I loved holding them. They can stand on their own if convinced. The lady mouse has a plastic circle cut out from a container at the bottom of her skirt for additional balance. Some other knitters forewent feet for the lady mouse so that she was even more stable, but I thought this looked a bit odd next to her counterpart.

This is a great stash buster project, and I was happy to also tap into my embroidery thread stash as well. The colors were also particularly fun to choose, and I could imagine playing with all kinds of combinations. 

These were a gift for my Grandma, and she was absolutely delighted by them.

Post a Comment

0 Comments