Friday's Fun: Crafts With Kids

One of the best and most fun ways to tie strings with your daughters is to do crafts with them. After my post about being WITH your kids, I wanted to do a craft with them.

I knew how to finger crochet, but I never knew you could finger knit! This is a GREAT way to introduce your child (and yourself) to knitting. But of course, having my mom here (who knows how to knit) and AA having a knitting kit given to her for Christmas, she wanted to learn to KNIT knit!

Wednesday night, my mom showed me how to knit. She only knows casting on, the basic stitch (I believe it is called the garter stitch) and casting off. But we sure had fun!

Here is a little rhyme to help you when learning/teaching to knit:

In through the front door (right needle through front leg of stitch on left needle making an X with the right needle behind the left needle)

Run around the back (holding both needles in the left hand, wrap the yarn around the back (right) needle with the right hand)

Out through the window (bring right needle with loop back through stitch on left needle)

And off jumps Jack (take the old stitch off the left needle)

(Thanks to Shamama for the little rhyme! Be sure to visit her blog!

So, last night I sat down with AA and showed her how to cast on (the way my mom does) and to knit (the way my mom does). She LOVED the rhyme and said it over and over and OVER again. And the look of pure bliss and joy on my daughter's face was so priceless! She absolutely LOVES to knit.

This morning she remembered EVERYTHING about knitting! She repeated the little rhyme, and went knitting away! And still had that same look of pure bliss and joy as she knitted!! I am SO PROUD of her!!!

And it hit me. This is the first time (and I know it will not be the last) that my daughter doesn't have the same interest as me. She is DEFINITELY A KNITTER! And I still prefer crochet over knitting. But hey! Now I have someone who can knit me all those things I like that I don't know how to knit! And we can trade off and I can crochet her all the things she likes crocheted. :) OR even better, maybe, just maybe, she will really like BOTH. A mom can hope, can't she? :D

So what did the other two girls do while AA and I am my mom knitted? They did a craft too! I collect craft kits at garage sales and thrift stores when they are less than a dollar. I put them in a rainy day container to pull out when things get slow here or for something to do on vacation. I have everything from looms to sun-catchers to sewing in there. And last night they chose to make finger puppets (yes, I found a finger puppet kit). They sewed them (felt with pre-punched holes, yarn and plastic needles) SO WELL! Even MM (4 1/2 yr) had PERFECT stitching (without me reminding her how to).

It was such a WONDERFUL evening!

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Three things I am thankful for:
The look on AA's face when she was knitting
THe knitting kit that she saw given that started it all
JJ says "tith you" for tissue and always wants one to blow his nose (even though it is not runny) and the HUGE smile of accomplishment he gets every time he blows his nose. :) And he LOVES books or as he says "Bou"!! :D And he says "aepp" for help and asks for help often (doing the sign). I am also VERY thankful I have taught my children sign language.