And now to address the FAQs...
- No - I did not use a pattern.
- No - I do not plan on trying to figure out what the pattern is so I can sell it.
- No - I will not be selling this one and I have still not opened up an Etsy store yet.
- No - This is not for Miss A.
- Yes - I do realize that spots would make this more Giraffe-like.
- Yes - The mane (specifically) did take a long time to do but doing it during a Rachel Zoe marathon made it that much more bearable. So, in the words of Rachel herself - It was Bah-NAN-Nas!
- No - I do not know how much time I actually devoted to this one. But it is worth noting that my forearms ache from all of the stitching and crocheting and this is definitely the one of the 22 finished objects that I've made that I'm most proud of.
- No - I have not cross-posted this on StuffSheMakes as that has become a now-completely-abandoned blog that I'm not sure what I will do with in the meanwhile.
And now for the backstory to answer all of the questions not addressed above!
My new job came along with a wonderful opportunity and responsibility for youth ministry. Every week I get to meet with a group of 12 young ladies (9th-11th graders) and mentor them. During our mentoring time, we get to step beyond the normal classroom/student-teacher relationship and really "bond" (for lack of better verbage) with one another. We discuss hard hitting issues as well as share our journeys of faith and challenges of living a seriously focused Christian lifestyle. It's really been an amazing experience for me as a mentor and I absolutely love the girls that I've been assigned to mentor.
When I first got to meet my girls, I had them answer some getting-to-know-you questions so that I could better understand who they were as individuals. One of the bits of info that they offered up was identifying their favorite color and favorite animal. Early on I decided to use this information to do what I know best (creating and crocheting) to make each of them a special memento for them to remember this year's mentoring experience. Including this giraffe, I've done a Jack Russell terrier (from a pattern - and I was only just satisfied with the finished product) with a satin dog collar. I've got 10 more animals to do through to the end of the year and by the end of the year every girl will have received a uniquely created animal (that also features their favorite color in some way) as close to their birthday as possible.
And that's it! This giraffe was intended to be much more cartoony in design and "feel" but it ended up taking on a much more realistic quality than I originally intended. I think it was because after spending so much time looking at real pictures of baby giraffes, I couldn't not end up in that direction anyway. Also, I almost "frogged" this part way through when the body and legs just wouldn't work out together and I had to go (almost completely) back to the proverbially drawing board to figure out how to fix it. Thankfully(!) my WONDERFUL husband, D, helped me to figure out what could be done to make it work and looking at the final result? I've finally impressed myself enough to not be able to NOT toot my own horn!
Only problem now? I've raised the bar on myself significantly! Who knows where this whole endeavor will end up by the end of the year when I'm done!
1 comment:
I love all your work and waiting for the day youopen your shop!!
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