This is a thing that swings. It’s my first motion-oriented toy – somehow, it’s pretty interesting just to give the creature a little push and watch the swing go back and forth a few times. I guess because you don’t expect to see this kind of kinetic motion from a stuffed toy.
I really like the idea of soft toys that move or suggest movement. Aside from this kind of structural work, I’m thinking about eggs that are in the process of hatching, so that you see a foot or a wing sticking out of the crack in a worried-looking anthropomorphic egg. (To me, this egg is a particularly interesting existential question – once the live, fluffy chick hatches out of the egg, what happens to the shell with all that personality? Does the poor thing have to die?)
In any case, Swinging Thing gets its structure from wire, which kind of feels like cheating, but it’s not a toy that’s meant to be hugged and squeezed anyway. It was really fun (albeit nerve-wracking) to construct, and I’m hoping to make a few more of these kinds of sculptural knits. Perhaps a monkey swinging from a tree?
Your kitty on a swing is just too cute! We both love the blog and are eager to meet the fully formed elephant.