A Prickle of Personality

Creativity, resilience and a rather characterful collection of hedgehogs

There was plenty of personality — and quite a bit of perseverance — on show at Friday’s Creative Wellbeing session, where the challenge was to create these wonderfully individual handmade hedgehogs.

Despite looking sweet and innocent once finished, making each little hedgehog proved to be far more challenging than it first appeared. Working with different yarns, textures and techniques called for patience, concentration and a fair amount of problem-solving along the way.

There was lots of resilience in the room as people worked through the fiddlier moments, tried different approaches and kept going when things didn’t quite behave as expected. With plenty of good humour, encouragement and application, everyone got there in the end — with a fantastic collection of hedgehogs to show for it.

“There was lots of resilience in the room — with good humour and determination, everyone got there in the end.”

And, as ever with creative activities, no two finished pieces were alike. Each hedgehog developed its own colours, expression and personality, from the beautifully understated to the gloriously eccentric.

Creative sessions like this are about much more than the finished result. Trying something unfamiliar can help us practise patience, build confidence and discover that we can work through frustration when something feels difficult. Creating alongside other people can also make it easier to chat, laugh and connect while our hands are busy.

The finished hedgehogs may look wonderfully innocent — but their makers know just how much determination went into every last prickle.