For sometime now, my niece Amaya (who will be 5 in August) has been saying that she wished she could knit. About two weeks ago I went out and bought her the shortest, fattest wooden needles I could find and some yarn in colors I thought she would like (orange and pinks).
One night when she was spending the night at our house, we sat down together and began to cast on. She could barely contain her excitement which led to much bounciness and squealing (and sincere gratitude). I showed her how I cast on and explained that everyone does things differently when it comes to knitting and the important thing was for her to do it the way that is most comfortable for her. Having never taught anyone how to knit, we had to work on finding what worked best for her little hands. So we practiced casting on for about 15 minutes or so and then it was bedtime. I told her she could practice at home and even if she forgot how she could pretend and just play around with the yarn and needles (which she calls 'beedles').




Last night was the first night since then that she has spent the night and so she brought her knitting gear. Again, we sat together and we got to practicing. She said she had forgotten how, but since the yarn was off the needles I assume she had been trying. Again, I began to show her how to cast on asking her what steps I should take to make my first loop. She directed me perfectly! I think her brain knew how to do it, but her hands had forgotten. I cast on two stitches for her and then passed the needles (beedles). The first few stitches she needed help keeping the yarn on the needles, after that very minimal intervention was needed on my part. We cast on eleven stitches. She was ecstatic. She declared she was making a blanket for her dolls.





Next I told her we would start the knitting part. This part was pretty easy since it is not much different for casting on. She had some trouble getting the loop off the left needle with out pulling off extra stitches, but she didn't give up. Soon she had knit eleven stitches and she was grinning ear to ear. I was so proud of her and not much beats seeing a 4 year old so proud of herself! I hope this excitement stays with her, what a treat this would be to pass this craft on to her. I'll keep you posted.

A Wee Bit Rough

The little ones around here had rough time last night.
A few nights a week our niece, Amaya (age 4), spends the night because my sister works nights at a hospital. When she got here I could tell she was in a kind of funk. I asked her a few times if anything was wrong and she told me no. I let it go. If she wanted to tell she would when she was ready. I was in my room getting my things together to go to knit night (never went) when she came in and climbed up on my bed. I looked at her and saw she was starting to cry. Poor thing. I sat with her and she told me she hated school "cause it's boring and we don't get to talk when we want to talk and we always have to do homework and we still have to be quiet when its playtime". This is pre-k. I can't say I blame her. I had no idea what to tell her. That it's probably only going to get worse? All I could do was hold her and tell her I was sorry she felt that way and she needs to talk to her mom about this and I know it can be hard to follow rules sometimes (she's been getting a 'yellow' which apparently means she's been having trouble listening and following directions). Seriously. What do you say to a 4 year old that is already miserable at school? I know some of this is because her teacher is on vacation and the assistant teacher is in charge. From what my sister says the class has been a bit unruly. As in my sister was telling kids to sit down and listen to the teacher the other day when she dropped Amaya off because the asst. teacher was already losing control. I imagine it has been a stressful week so far in that classroom (for everyone).
She also went on to say that she never wants to be a mom. She just wants to stay four and be with her mom. She said she never wants to grow up. I told she has a lot of time to stay a kid, but wouldn't it be sad not to celebrate her birthday every year? I think she forgot about birthdays. She said she still didn't want to be a mom and wants to stay little. Her favorite movie right now is Peter Pan. Hmmmm.
I just hope this girl is having a rough week. It happens to us all. Hopefully, next week has a brighter outlook for her.
I sure felt like I failed her though.



Henry's rough spot came last night right before bed when he fell or rather 'stepped' off a dining room chair onto nothing. First he hit the table, which gave him a bit of a spin, then he landed face first on the floor. All the while I am across the room seeing this happen (and it replayed in my mind all night long). I scooped him up, blood of course pouring from his mouth, and got him a glass of water to rinse it. As soon as he had a drink he was ready to get down and play with Amaya. Thank goodness she was here. Nothing like a good distraction to fix a boo-boo quickly. It looked pretty bad though. He busted his top lip open and we thought he had bit is bottom lip all the way through just a little bit. This morning that doesn't seem the case. Anyway, mama made a quick trip to the store for some sugar laden popsicles. When I got home, Amaya was already asleep and the boy and papa were in bed watching baseball. Needless to say, this boy loved that popsicle. Loved it.
He's a toughie though, and he's got two fat lips to prove it.