For the past few years, Bilot has been knitting and selling her whimsical stuffed toys at fairs and craft markets around Greater Vancouver.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. That was where I grew up and got married,\u201d she told the Independent. Later, her family immigrated to Israel, where they lived for 26 years. They came to Canada in 2015, following their adult children. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was never artistic before,\u201d she said. Though perhaps she was, without realizing it. Creativity doesn\u2019t usually spring out of nowhere. It surely shimmered inside her all along, finding unconventional channels among the demands of hard work and three growing children. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen we came to Vancouver, my husband and I started flipping houses,\u201d she said. \u201cWe did it for a few years, but then COVID happened. Everything stopped. I didn\u2019t know what to do. My husband found a job, but I was bored out of my mind.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She searched for an avenue to apply her fertile imagination.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went to our community centre once, and there was a craft fair there. I liked the knit toys someone was selling, but I thought: I could do better. And the idea stuck.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Never having made a knit toy before, Bilot did some research on the internet.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t speak good English,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, I contacted a friend in Israel and asked if she could find me some books in Russian on the subject. She did and sent them.\u201d<\/p>\n Bilot read all the books and then began to experiment.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first, I knitted some children\u2019s clothing, but I don\u2019t do that anymore,\u201d she said. \u201cNow, I concentrate on toys. I don\u2019t copy what the books say either. I improve on them, make changes. I might use legs from one toy, hats from another, whatever fits my vision. Sometimes, I just follow my muse. Or I might find something new on the internet. There are several groups on Facebook, and we share information. We also help each other, when one of us hits a snag.\u201d<\/p>\n The variety of toys Bilot creates is astounding. Her output includes some common animals \u2013 dogs, cats, bears and rabbits \u2013 as well as owls in graduation hats, aliens with antennas and gnomes with beards. Each one has its own expression; no two are identical. For the winter holiday markets, she makes colourful Christmas trees with legs and hats, and snowmen decorated with buttons.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t knit snowmen \u2013 I make them from socks,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd, for my Christmas trees, I started to crochet. I\u2019ve only been doing it for a few months.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She derives her ideas from everywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cI once saw a man on the street with a big bushy beard. He was a short and fat older man, and his beard was white. I thought: that is my gnome.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Her home is half living space, half workshop.<\/p>\n \u201cI have so much yarn now, I need to put it somewhere I can easily access,\u201d she explained. \u201cI put all my clothing in cardboard boxes, and my yarn into my dresser\u2019s drawers.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of her yarn is acrylic.<\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/nov-29-website-LeaBilot-creations_IMG-20241021-WA0008.jpg\")
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