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aina got this spool-knitting bear kit on her 3rd birthday… or was it Christmas? it was a while ago and all i remember was Noushka, who gave the gift, realized that this kit was for 8 years old and above, not long after aina opened the package.

so, it took her almost 2 years to actually finished the bear. she made the body not long after she got the kit, and left the kit alone for… well, almost two years. a few days ago, she found the kit under her pile of crafts. since then, she had been nagging me to buy doll fillings so that she can finish the bear.

we bought the filling, and she immediately started to work on it.

all she needed was to knit the limbs, sew them into the body and paste the face.

this spool-knitting thing is fun. it makes knitting in rounds much easier for kids. and you can even make your own spool, if you’re crafty enough. aina got a hang of it very quickly, even back when she was only 3 years old. and she was very proud that she can “knit”, like her mom :)

after knitting all the limbs, she had to make the neck by tying a braided yarn on to the body, dividing the head and the body. so first, braid the yarn. she’s been soooo into braiding lately (my hair is her practice tool), so she had no problem with this.

koda wanted to join, so she practically sat on my lap the whole time we were crafting.

since the face parts are small and rather delicate, i helped aina by cutting the felt into shapes of the eyes, nose, mouth and ears. and while i was busy cutting, she tried to sew the arms and legs… but i had to help her on that too, because it seems like “sewing” for her is straight stitch. that doesn’t work for attaching stuff.

the bear had started to have some shapes after the limbs were attached. and the last part was just glueing the face and ears. aina can do that herself :)

after waiting for about an hour or two for the glue to dry (which was basically the most painful part of crafting for aina)… and viola! the bear is done!