Crocheting skills brought to bear
It began with a single bear, but finished with an entire picnic by the end of the lockdown.
For the past month, Ailys Tewnion has been crocheting dolls as part of the teddy bear hunt going up and down the country.
As more creations popped up, Tewnion’s house in Tahunanui has become something of a local tourist attraction for families on their daily lockdown walks.
She said the whole enterprise had been a spur of the moment decision, after noticing people around the neighbourhood putting teddy bears in their windows.
‘‘I started off with nothing actually – I thought I would crochet a bear going out for a walk, and staple-gun him onto the fence.
‘‘Then people started commenting on it and said ‘what are you going to be doing next?’’’
After that more dolls started to appear on the fence: a dog, a child on a scooter, a soldier for Anzac Day.
‘‘My daughter suggested Jacinda and Ashley Bloomfield – I had a crack at doing them and that was a bit of a hit.’’
She said throughout the time the dolls had been out, she had received thank you cards in the mail and lots of comments from passers-by over the fence.
She said there had probably been about 30 hours of work in total, with each doll taking roughly two hours to put together.
‘‘It’s the kind of thing you wouldn’t do at any other time – but we were in lockdown and time was plenty.’’
Tewnion has had plenty of experience when it comes to knitting and crocheting, and for the past three years has been part of a community knitting group at Nightingale Library Memorial in Tahunanui.
‘‘There’s about 12 or 14 of us who meet once a week, and we distribute garments to Victim Support, Women’s Refuge, the Salvation army, Age Concern, all those sorts of places.
‘‘We’re always on the scrounge for people to donate money if they want to, or wool of any kind, we’re always grateful for that sort of thing.’’
Tewnion said with the end of the lockdown it had probably been time to wrap her teddy bear project up, so she decided to mark the move to Level 2 by putting the dolls together for a teddy bear’s picnic.
She said there had been all sorts of suggestions of what to do with the dolls post-lockdown, but she hadn’t decided on a plan yet.
‘‘I didn’t make it for a purpose, it was just something that was in the moment.
‘‘The feedback has been amazing – it was the feedback that kept me doing it really – it’s a great way to meet your neighbours.’’