Thematic mats are fun to make. More challenging as there are usually new twiddle items to make.
A sea theme with fish & seaweed. I have also included a treasure chest in a mat
A flower garden, making sure everything is securely fastened.
A garden with lots of happenings. On another mat I made the tree trunk around a zip with creatures inside for interest.
My latest twiddle mat was requested by a friend for her daughter, Tanya, who has early onset dementia. We tend to think that dementia is an old person’s disease but this disease which affects memory, thinking, behaviour and interfering with daily activities can be found in much younger people. The challenge for me was to include items and colours that relate to Tanya’s life.
The question about whether a twiddle mat should be different for a younger person kept cropping up. Despite how some people still think of blue colours for boys and pink colours for girls, there is not conclusive research to support that view. All people have their own preferred colours and it is not based on gender. So I sailed on, creating what I think will work best regardless of age and gender.
Tanya loves gardening, autumn colours, and the colour blue, enjoys swimming in the sea and being with her dogs, and the pride and joy of her life, her 5 grandchildren.
I started by crocheting a blank piece and placed a tree in the middle. The tree trunk has small beads secured inside it for Tanya to move them up and down. Photos of the grandchildren are in small photo frames attached to key rings, and these are placed on the tree branches. One is attached to the zip to make it easier to open and shut the zip. Each tree branch is secured firmly by the yellow flowers, the pattern is at Small Decorative Flowers
Inside the zip pocket is a red heart (insert) for Tanya to hold and hopefully provide some quiet moments. The heart pattern I find the easiest to adapt for different purposes can be found here: Everyone loves a pocket!
Peeping over the top of the brown pocket with twirl flowers, Project Twiddles Twirls Flower on its side, is a dog with floppy ears. Both the ears and flowers perfect for restless flowers. A second dog is placed between the tree and a pot of hydrangeas. A wonderful pattern for hydrangeas is here: Hydrangeas Flower
I found some bright autumnal yarn and made the backing. The top piece and the backing were joined together by using single crochet stitches prior to doing the edging. If you are wondering why we back, check out Why back a twiddle mat.
I have crocheted popcorns around the edge and finished off with a coral reef edging in autumnal colours. The coral feef edging is madly placing 2 single crochet stitches in to every stitch and I have completed 2 rounds.
Definitely a challenge this mat. Lots of interest for restless fingers and items to jog memories. Definitely takes longer to make but gives a lot of pleasure in the creating. Hope there are some ideas here for you to try in your next creation.
Happy creating everyone
Sandra @ Project Twiddles