Here is my latest sock doll, which I call Fancy Monkey Girl. She is at the gallery, for sale, and I'm sure her future owner will find a much more appropriate name for her, one suiting her unique, outgoing personality. I used up all my creativity MAKING her and so didn't have any left for naming her. Since I didn't intend to keep her, I tried not to bond with her much, thus the rather inpersonal moniker; I kept my distance. I was lucky to find an American Girl doll at a rummage sale yesterday. Ivy Ling is her name and she is an Asian girl. The doll was very clean, and the only sign that she was ever around a mischievious child is the rather unique trim of her bangs; some little person-- not necessarily the owner-- got ahold of a pair of scissors, which is why my little grandgirls won't have an American Girl doll with hair, from me, at least, until they are older than the "getting wild with scissors" stage.
I've given our 4 year old granddaughter a Bitty Baby and soon I'll give her one year old sister one, too. They have smooth, hairless heads--the dolls, not the girls--so scissor play is not possible with these dolls.
Ivy Ling was actually the second American Girl doll I've found at a rummage/thrift sale; I found a Bitty Baby just like the one I gave to Granddaughter A a couple months ago at our local Salvation Army. Wouldn't you think, because these dolls are fairly pricey and so nicely made, that kids would want to keep them to hand down to their own kids, or to a younger cousin? I guess not, because there they are at rummage sales and thrift stores.
I guess people don't save things to hand down like they used to. I work at a local Clothing Bank, and we get wonderful handmade baby items that I know some great aunt or grandmother made for a special baby. I always wonder why those very special items weren't kept--it would seem like people would want to keep them, knowing they were made especially for their child by someone who cared enough to put in the time. My mother saved some of my baby clothes so I could put them on my big dolls and I was so happy to have them--two of the sweaters she had knit herself. To me, it was very special, to have my own big doll wearing the clothes I'd worn as a baby. It meant a lot to me, and perhaps that's part of why I value handmade things so much now.
I despise a throw-away culture. It seems wasteful and wanton to me, and it's also bad for the environment. Can you tell I'm not young (I hate to say "old" because I don't feel old; I just know that chronologically, I'm older than many people). Anyway, if you are reading this, leave me a comment so I know you are, and let me know how you feel about handmade baby items given to your baby; are you going to keep them, give them to a special friend, or toss them when you're done with them? Don't get me wrong; I give many clothing items away to the clothing bank. I just have a soft spot for baby items made by friends or relatives; those I like to keep.
