Operation Completion

While discussing possible journal topics with Avery last Friday, I asked her, "If you could do anything this weekend, what would it be?" Her answer: snowboarding. OK, fall just barely arrived, and already we are expecting snow. She settled for shopping for snowboarding clothes, and while she was out shopping with dad, I got to thinking, If I could do anything this weekend, what would it be?

This is where you find out how truly boring I am, because my answer was: finish Aidan's socks. Not to brag, but I am extremely good at starting projects; I could start a million a day. What I am not good at is finishing projects; I have a one in a million completion rate. So finishing the socks I started months ago was a truly worthwhile goal (plus it prevented me from starting a new project). I knit through a few episodes of Men in Trees on abc.com (I'm a sucker for shows with obvious metaphors and voice over monologues), knit in between errands (George drove), kitchenered just before reading books at bedtime, and voila.

Did you know handmade socks are extremely slippery on wood floors? Aidan had us in hysterics with his risky business moves Saturday night (that's debris from my floor on his sock, not a hole). In addition to new socks, Aidan has a new skill.


It's official, the boy can ride a bike. "Mom, isn't it fun to watch me ride a two wheeler?" Aidan asked. Yes my son, extremely fun and cool; just a little bit sad, but mostly exciting. Go easy on your mom and don't ride too far too fast.

Although Avery didn't find the perfect snowboarding outfit this weekend, she did find a new hobby. This is what happens when your children read the blogs of crafty women.

Avery spied the rag rug tutorial over on Eren's blog and immediately grabbed her stash and her Ginghers. Yes, she has her own stash thanks to Grandma's leftovers, trips to the thrift store (where we sometimes fight over remnants) and good old rummaging through the trash can when mom purges.

Avery: "I'm making a rug Mom."

Me: "You know you could make a basket."

Avery: "It's a rug Mom."

Me: "You could make a potholder."

It's not that I want to discourage her from making a rug, I just know how much of me is in her and how good she is at starting projects that rarely become finished projects. She doesn't often acquiesce, so I was extremely pleased when I opened up my kitchen drawer and found I had been secretly gifted a new potholder. I love it Avery. Of course, she came home from Grandma's with a huge bag of scraps after dinner Sunday night because she still plans on making a rug. You go, girl.

While I knit, Avery hooked and Aidan slid merrily across the floor, George hijacked my camera and took some blurry photos (though he claims it's me who is blurry, not the photos). This one is for my friend Becca, who claims there are not nearly enough pictures of me on my blog. To be honest, I see too much of me me me and I I I on this here blog; to add a picture of myself would be too much me. Yet here it is, a fuzzy picture for a far away friend. And now I'm off to start another project, or two, actually three, but it may be a while before you see them finished.

A Girl's Gotta Do What a Girl's Gotta Do

And this girl's gotta knit socks. When she first asked me to help her start this project, my instinct was to say no. Then The Yarn Harlot's words sounded in my ear, "Five year old Danish children can do it", so why can't my seven year old daughter? I've learned not to underestimate Avery. Last year when I taught her to knit, I cast on for her. Several months later she asked me to show her how to cast on, and she declared it was easy and she could cast on forever. In fact, sometimes I catch her casting on, ripping it off the needles, and casting on again. I thought casting on might be difficult for her, but it's become one of her favorite past times.So, she cast on 24 stitches, I helped her divide and join the stitches between two pairs of circular needles, taught her how to purl, and she began ribbing. Just like that. What I could not do until I was 30 she was doing at 7. I attempted to convince her to make a pair of tube socks for her sock monkey, but she is adamant about turning a heel.
Avery told me she was "born to purl". I should put that on a t-shirt for her. I do not enjoy purling myself, so she has offered to do the ribbing on my socks. I think she just wants to use my Addi Turbo needles, which she declared "way better" than her Susan Bates needles. What a dynamic knitting duo we make. The other morning we sat together, each knitting our own socks, listening to the first KnitPicks podcast. It is an immeasurable joy to share an ancient craft and current passion with my favorite girl. Now I know how my mom must have felt when I learned to knit some twenty-odd years ago.

Off and On