Thursday, March 09, 2006

The Next Generation of Peace Makers

On one hand, I have a hard time believing that it is STILL not Friday. It has been a long, SLOW week at work. But on the other hand, my question is “How did it get to be Thursday already?!?” I’ve only posted once since my trip!

I always enjoy a weekend away, but sometimes I think it takes me a couple of weeks to get back on track. We will not talk about nutrition – the only reason I have clean countertops is that I haven’t been in my kitchen other than to get a glass of water all week. And it’s not just that – I didn’t have anything planned to bring for my lunch, so I’ve made some pretty disastrous choices. Popcorn? For a meal? ^shudder^

There were a couple of other things that happened over the weekend that I wanted to report on. We shopped a bit on Saturday morning at a fabric store. K. wanted more flannel to make receiving blankets. Since I don’t have the temptation to sew, I didn’t even bring my wallet into the store. Well, while a fabric store is no where near as dangerous for me as a yarn store, I did not escape unscathed.

I picked up a square of flannel to make a receiving blanket to add to the baby gift I’m knitting. Even I can handle a rolled hem around the edges! There was also a fun kit to make a no-sew fleece pillow. I grabbed one of those to try as well.

And then I grabbed a ball of thick yarn and a large crochet hook. My god-daughter is so fascinated by my knitting that I thought it was time to start the yarn thing. So while her little sister was napping, we sat on the couch and started making chains. (The yarn was a bright rainbow color – we share a similar color taste!) She did pretty well – by time we were done she was grabbing the yarn with the hook correctly, and usually remembering to twist it down before pulling the loop through. I needed to hold the chain – three things to juggle was just too much for her, but she is barely five. I remember learning chains when I was her age!

I have to tell you that her mother is appalled by the price of good yarn. She always disagrees when I say that knitting is cheaper than therapy – at least therapy is covered by insurance! (Hmm, mental health insurance paying for yarn…we may have to explore that further…) Anyway, while she was pleased that R. was interesting in crochet, I did assure her that the yarn I had provided was something I would consider “crap yarn.” She was quite comforted by the fact that I’m not trying to hook her daugher on the good stuff! “Yeah kid, the first hit’s free….”

Later that evening, when I got to read books to her little sister, she also wanted to get started with knitting. She sat on my lap, and between books, wanted to help me knit. So I picked up the baby blanket I was working on and put her hands on the needles, then I put my hands over hers and knitted. We got about a row done!

She had been demanding pencils and “my baby yarn” all day. (She still has a scrap of red yarn that I gave her one time.) The next morning we found her yarn and gave her a pair of chop sticks. She’s having a fun time now!

So, training for world peace at a young age!!

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