A Life Sustained

Birthday Dress #3

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 29 May 2018 15:17:00 +0000

I know, I know. Her birthday was over two months ago. To be fair, I had this little dress completely sewn up before the big day. All that was left was to make the button holes and sew on the buttons. My Achilles heel, to be sure. It's another Geranium Dress, this time with sleeves and an underskirt. The fabric is a Japanese print by Trefle for Kokka. I bought it so long ago (2011, I think?), I can't find a link or the print name. It seems to be somewhat of a Thumbelina theme with a little girl sitting on the flower and a swallow flying through the air.

Thinking that she would be wearing it in the cool days at the end of March, I fully lined it with a really soft sweatshirt fabric. It's super cozy! It's also a tad bit warm now that we're already into full-on summer heat. It's nice and roomy, though, so I'm hopeful we'll get a little bit of wear out of it now and then again this fall when it cools down.

How is this little girl already three? She is sweet and demanding and strong and incredibly clingy. She is her brother's shadow and they adore each other. She spends most days pretending to be a kitty, specifically Jenny Linsky. She is so incredibly wonderful.

A Baby Surprise Jacket, Four Years in the Making

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 03:02:00 +0000

It seems like ages and ages ago that I cast on this little jacket. It probably seems that way because it was indeed ages and ages ago. Four years ago. I started it for Silas, using a toddler hack of Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. All that was left on it was to seam it up, but I just couldn't figure out how to do it back then and he outgrew it before I ever had a chance to finish it. So, into the bottom of the yarn bin it went. I remember being heartbroken about it. I used scrap yarn from all his baby knits...the gray from his T-Shirt Vest, purple from his diaper covers, the two rows of green from his baby beanie, yellow from his aviatrix, and bits from other projects as well.

Lately I've been feeling a strong pull to tie up loose ends. To finish the unfinished. Close books. Put to rest. I haven't knit anything in months and decided that I wanted to finish up something old before I started something new. So, with a different toddler in mind, I pulled out this little jacket. After a quick YouTube tutorial and two nights on the couch, I crocheted the seams together and finally (finally!) had a finished jacket (ravelry notes here). It is probably the most "handmade" looking thing that I've ever made. It seems very grandmotherly. I decided to embrace this and go all out by sewing on some vintage wooden toggle buttons.

Theda loves it. I put it on her this morning and, even though the temperature broke 70 this afternoon, she refused to take it off. Maybe there's something fitting about this - the weaving together of the story of these two children. What she receives are hand-me-downs, but she breathes into them a life all her own.

An Eleena Dress

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 18:19:00 +0000

We recently took a weekend trip to the grandparents' house to celebrate a cousin's birthday. A new dress was clearly necessary for such an occasion. Right? Right. So, this is the Eleena dress from Coffee & Thread. I actually was only intending to buy the pattern for these pants, but then I saw Meg's version of this dress on the blog tour for its release and fell in love. Plus, the pattern was on sale...who am I to *not* buy a cute sewing pattern when it's on sale?

Theda measured between a size 2 and 3, so I went ahead and made the 3. It's a little roomy, but at least she won't outgrow it in a week. I was able to make this during the day while the kids played around me. This is something that I've never been able to do before and it felt so freeing! This was also my first attempt at a zipper and an invisible zipper at that. It was so easy, I'm not sure why I resisted zippers for so long. I didn't even use a zipper foot.

The pattern did advise understitching the neckline to keep the lining fabric from peeking out, which I didn't do (I was in a hurry!). I didn't think that it would bother me, but it totally does. Note to self: don't skip this step next time! I also handstitched the lining to the dress along the zipper so that the raw edges wouldn't be exposed. It didn't seem like I was being instructed to do so, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Maybe it's one of those things that an experienced sewer would know to do and so they don't mention it in the instructions? I don't know. I also tacked down the collar in the front and back with a couple of stitches to keep it from flipping up. Regardless, I ended up with a nice, clean finish inside and a super comfy, sturdy play dress.

I really wanted to do the entire dress in the patterned fabric (Village in Mustard from the Abacus collection by Alison Glass for Andover), but I was just shy in yardage. I picked up a just a yard of it when a quilt shop down the road from me went out of business and was clearing everything out. I had planned to do the inverted pleat in the gold (Curry by Kona), but ended up doing the back panel in it as well. I had a scrap of pink (Bubblegum by Cloud 9) left over from her birthday dress and it happened to match the pattern exactly, so I decided to use it for the collar.

Perfect for all the berry picking, backyard playing, and immersion in puddles that goes on around here.

Easter Mama-Mades

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 03:14:00 +0000

This morning as Silas and Theda woke up bright and early for Easter, they found a new mama-made shirt and dress all laid out for them. It's the first time that I've really surprised them with clothes and having Theda rush into the bedroom to wake me and declare "Bunnies! Put it on!" pretty much ensures that it will happen again in the near future.

The dress is my second Geranium. This time I did the faux cap sleeves, pleated skirt with side seam pockets, and cutout neckline. I love it so much! It really is so quick to sew and the result is an adorable, but more importantly, sturdy play dress. The bodice is a napkin that I picked up at the thrift store and the skirt is some hemp decorator fabric leftover from when my mother-in-law so kindly sewed me a Mei Tai back when Silas was a baby (that we still use every day!). I added flat piping again because, hey, everything is better with piping.

Silas is sporting a Recess Raglan and this is the fourth time I've made one of these (The first went un-blogged, but you can see it in this post and here are two and three). This kid won't wear anything with buttons and pretty much will only wear knits, so this is a perfect one for him. The main fabric is Adventure Springs by Bonnie Christine for Art Gallery and the sleeves are City Lights Day by Leah Duncan for Art Gallery (I talk about Silas picking it out here). This is a shirt I intended (and attempted!) to make for him two years ago. I'm so glad I got to see him happily wearing it today.

After they put on their new duds, Silas and Steve made their annual Easter trip to the doughnut shop to pick up breakfast, which, coincidentally, is always exactly when the Easter bunny arrives. Somehow, I never hear him open the refrigerator door, take out the eggs that we've colored and then hide them in the backyard. Huh. Weird.

Just the two of them searching for a dozen eggs in our yard is about the speed of our little family and it was a perfect way to spend the morning and then the rest of the day together. Happy Easter!

A Dress with Pockets

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 04:13:00 +0000

Awhile ago someone posted a picture of a dress by Remie Girl in one of my Facebook groups. It was this adorable, soft knit with enormous pockets. I became obsessed! For the next three nights I dreamt about this dress. Clearly I had to make it.

I started searching for a good knit dress pattern. I ended up going with the Isla Infinity Dress by Simple Life Pattern Co. on Etsy. I liked that there were several options for every element of the dress and I thought that even if I couldn't recreate my inspiration dress with it, it would still be a really good, basic knit dress pattern. Turns out, it was perfect! I went with the 3/4 length sleeve, the high/low waist, and gathered skirt. The pattern didn't include pockets, but I figured that was something I could wing. I love how slouchy the pockets are in my inspiration dress and this tutorial was very helpful to achieve the same effect. I used Telio Organic Cotton Jersey in Grey. It's always so hard to tell what a color truly is online. In the photos, this one seemed to have a purplish cast to it, which I liked, and I was so relieved that it really did have a bit of purple in it in person. I'm getting a little bit wiser in my sewing and I actually measured Theda before cutting this out. I ended up cutting out a 3T bodice and a 4T skirt because I wanted it to fall below her knee.

I'm so very happy with how it turned out! Theda is too. She had a grand time marching around the yard on this very warm, albeit windy, day. Her favorite thing to put in the pockets? Rocks.

A Second Birthday Dress

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 02:36:00 +0000

This little one turned two last week. Her birthday unintentionally took on a kitty theme. Jenny's Birthday Book made its first appearance at our house last month when we pulled it out for Silas' birthday celebration. (I totally lucked out and found a first edition in pristine condition for 88 cents at the thrift store!) She loved it so much that she wouldn't let me put it away and has insisted that it stay in regular reading rotation. She recites snippets of the whole thing, which may be the most adorable thing ever. "Up the stairs...go to sleep," is her favorite phrase from it.

Then, of course, there had to be a kitty birthday dress. The pattern is the ever-popular Geranium by Made by Rae. I love it so much! I already have a second one cut out for her Easter dress. The main fabric is Here Kitty Kitty by Alyssa Thomas of Penguin and Fish for Clothworks. The accent fabric, Bubblegum by Cloud 9, was a lucky perfect match found at JoAnn's. I wasn't necessarily intending to use an accent fabric, but I had less yardage of the kitty fabric than the pattern called for and was shy the flutter sleeves. I loved how it looked so much, I added some patch pockets and flat piping as well (inspired by this and following the tutorial here).

My first attempt at buttons! My machine does have a buttonhole setting, but it's the 1960's version of "automatic" so there's still lots of room for user error. I kind-of want to put buttons on everything now.

The patch pockets are perfect for holding Lego people, which both she and Silas call their "babies." She wasn't quite sure how pockets worked, but after a brief demonstration she saw their potential for holding all manner of treasures. There is a shortage of pockets in girls clothing. I think all dresses must have pockets from now on.

Here she is pointing to her favorite kitty; the "big one."

I actually finished sewing this up a full week before her birthday. Can you imagine?! Not staying up all night the evening prior? Why, that's unheard of!

And how could I resist making her an actual kitty to hug and snuggle? It's made from a pair of her wool baby socks that no longer fit (following this tutorial). It's stuffed with wool roving and even the embroidery is done with vintage wool crewel yarn. That's a lot of wool!

Giving her kitty some "huuuuuuuuuugs!"

I recently organized my fabric stash. It's lovely to see it all stacked up and color coordinated! Having it out where I can see it everyday has inspired me to actually use it. So, I made myself a pledge. For this summer season I'm not buying the kids any clothes at all, not even used. Whatever gaps they have in their hand-me-down wardrobe will be filled with mama-mades stitched from my stash. When I declared this plan to Steve he chuckled and muttered something along the lines of, "I'll believe it when I see it." I presented him with the kitty birthday dress completed a FULL WEEK before its deadline, but somehow that was not convincing enough evidence. So, I guess it's time to get to work...

Discovering Hexagons

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 03:16:00 +0000

After playing around with pentagons, Silas' sixth birthday seemed like a good time to discover hexagons.

Our previous geometric introduction was so positive, having the shape revealed in the sea star, that I hoped to find a similar way to use nature to find our next geometric form. In one of my internet search rabbit holes, I read some fascinating facts about bubbles, including the fact that a bunch of bubbles that are uniform in size will always come together to make hexagons. But how to make this visible for a six-year-old?

I started with a clear box acrylic picture frame. On this particular frame, the corners weren't sealed, so I ran a bead of hot glue in each one to make it water tight. Add some soapy water and a straw and not much instruction was needed.

Once we had a good tray of bubbles, we placed another flat piece of plexi on top of the tray, which served to flatten the bubbles into a wall.

A dry erase marker let Silas trace the walls of the bubbles. Our bubbles were not uniform in size, so their hexagonal shape was not always obvious, but once he traced the whole thing out, it sure did look a lot like a beehive!

We tried another variation of this experiment by mixing paint in with our soapy water in order to make bubble prints.

He wanted to hunt for and trace the hexagons on this one as well.

Greatly inspired by this post, we made hexagon tessellations using monochromatic images cut from magazines and our homemade hexagon inset.

We each chose to do our favorite color: red for him and green for me.

We also built a hexagon outside with logs that we walked every morning and tried to find hexagons out in the world and in nature (there are many!) We got some honey comb to try and made hexagons with the geo board and drew them with our inset. It may seem odd that we've spent such a long time focusing on so few shapes (two so far for the whole semester), but I think that it's been a beneficial experience. His familiarity and understanding of them is deeper than I think it would be if we were quickly moving on to the next thing. My original intention was to work through all the polygons sequentially, which would make the heptagon next, but I think that will just muddle the waters. Now I'm feeling the pull to focus on something completely different. Quatrefoil, perhaps?

Maxaloones

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 03:57:00 +0000

Last weekend we all headed to a baby shower. Silas and Theda will have a new wee cousin in a few short weeks and they are absolutely thrilled (so are we!). I wanted to have a little something handmade to tuck into the gift bag, so I sewed up my very first pair of Maxaloones.

I bought this pattern before Theda was born (2 years ago!) and got as far as printing and cutting it out. How I wish that I would have mustered the motivation to sew them up! While she looks adorable modeling this (too small for her) pair, my heart melts at putting these on a little squish.

The accent fabric is upcycled from a knit cotton dress of mine and the main fabric is City Lights Day by Leah Duncan for Art Gallery. Silas picked it out. In the months leading up to Theda's birth I went on a spree of signing up for activities and camps for Silas. I think that I was worried he would be jealous of the new baby and having some special things for him to look forward to would lessen the blow. And, too, I think that I was worried for myself - that I wouldn't know what to do with two kids at home and would appreciate the structure of having outings to plan around.

One of the activities that we signed up for that first summer, were art classes at the downtown rec center. Most of the other parents dropped off, but Silas wanted me to stay, so I did. I stayed and bounced the newborn Theda in her carrier as she dozed. On one of these class days she had just fallen asleep as his class was ending. The thought of waking her in order to strap her into the car for the trip home didn't seem at all appealing, so I asked Silas if he wanted to go for a walk. Always agreeable, he said sure.

Prior to this he had asked me to sew him a shirt, so I suggested that we walk across town to the locally-owned fabric store for him to pick out some fabric. Their selection of knits was small, but he fell in love with this one and we walked back to the car, swinging by our grocery co-op for a pastry treat along the way.

By week's end, I had sewn him a shirt, using a pattern in one of my sewing books, which turned out to be the worst pattern ever. The neck opening was entirely too small (he couldn't get his head through at all!) and he never got to wear it. A quick Google search reassured me that this was a problem that others had had with this pattern as well and I'm not just horrible at making shirts. The fabric is so beautiful, though, and I hated to see it go to waste, so I tucked the shirt in the scrap basket knowing that it would be perfect to cut up for a small project. And then I needed to make some baby pants!

Steve's 2016 Christmas Hat

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 13:33:00 +0000

Well, it may be the first day of March, but it's felt like spring around here for at least the last month. I mentioned way back at Christmas that poor Steve's gift was presented to him still on the needles, but his Christmas hat was completed the day after the holiday and he's been wearing it ever since.

The pattern is the Easy Ombre Slouch (Ravelry notes here); it caught my eye on SouleMama. A super easy but still cute pattern that's also free? Yup. Sounds good to me. I used a silk/wool blend from my stash. I have no idea what my original intent was for it, but it worked very well for this hat. The crown ended up a little wonky because I skipped some of the decrease rows. As Steve watched me knit he became very concerned with how slouchy it was becoming. "Can't you just stop right there?" he asked. Well, sure, but not without consequences. It must have not been a deal breaker, because he's become quite fond of it.

Joining Ginny.

Playing with Pentagons

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 17:23:00 +0000

I haven't really written too much on here about my process for planning our homeschooling days. I'm counting this as our first "for realsies" year and I'm definitely learning as we go, taking a little bit from all the theories that I like in order to craft something that really works for us. Our core is a wonderful Waldorf-inspired curriculum, but I've included snippets of Montessori as well.

Last fall, as I was planning the upcoming year, I primarily consulted this free Montessori primary guide. I was really only interested in the math and sensorial works and so just read through the progression of activites in those categories and decided what I wanted to include. I knew that I wanted to touch on the geometric cabinet, but wanted to do so in a way that was at least somewhat aligned with Waldorf. It wasn't until Christmas break that I really had a chance to think through the material and figure out how it might work for us.

Obviously, Silas already knows his basic shapes; square, circle, triangle, etc. I decided I wanted to introduce one new shape at a time and really spend a good deal of time on it - two weeks - so that he would really imprint the shape in his body and absorb it into his life before we moved on to something else. I decided to start with a pentagon because he's five. It made perfect sense to us both.

I gathered a whole bunch of inspiration online, chose what activities I wanted to do, and then divided them into three categories: body, heart, and head.

In all things, I try to start with the body. So, together we built a pentagon outside with logs. This was great gross muscle work! Hauling the logs, hauling them back and choosing different ones when they didn't quite fit right, balancing as we walked across them. It was right in the front yard so we could walk the form at the end of our morning walk every day. Later we made a pentagon with tape on the floor inside so that we could continue to interact with the shape with our whole bodies.

After engaging in this way with pentagons, I wanted to experience them through nature and art and to do an activity where he could really discover the shape in a hands-on way.

We used sea stars. First, making a dot at the end of each arm. Then, using a ruler to connect the dots. As if by magic, a pentagon appears! We then traced the sea stars inside the form and colored them in. This activity was so magical - almost a month later Silas still talks about how he discovered a pentagon in a sea star.

A pentagon path. I pre-cut the pieces and we each had a stack. I laid the inset down first and then we took turns adding a form; the only rule being that each pentagon had to touch another one at least one side. Lots of rearranging and experimentation took place.

Both the sea star activity and the pentagon path were borrowed from a wonderful (but no longer active) blog called The Moveable Alphabet.

Then a little more art with the insets, which have the bonus of also being great work in preparation for writing.

We did this project several times over our two week period, and I used the Montessori guide for inspiration on ways to vary it. We traced the pentagon inset by itself, tracing it multiple times in different orientations, and combined it with insets of contrast (circle and square) to make different patterns and designs.

This was about as "heady" as our investigation got. We played several games with a set of geometric cabinet cards that I printed and laminated. In this particular game, I asked for a specific card and Silas chose it from a sea of cards spread on the floor. Other games were gleaned from here.

I also found a great collection of photographs online of objects that are pentagons and used them to make sorting cards. Did you know that the cut end of okra is a pentagon? As is a morning glory blossom? Neither did I!

One of the last things we did was to use rubber bands to make a pentagon on the geo board. The wooden geo board is a little more spendy that the plastic versions, but we have gotten so much use out of it that it was totally worth it. For a long time, when he was a bit younger, making shapes and designs on it was his absolute favorite thing to do.

Here's a handy list of the activities that we did and how I divided them up. These were spread out over the course of two weeks and on any given day I started with a body activity, followed by a heart activity. The mind activities were introduced in the second week:

Body
Make form outside with logs and walk on them.
Make form inside with tape and walk it.
Walk form along an imaginary line.
Increase challenge by walking backwards, with eyes closed, or with bean bag balanced on head.

Heart
Pentagon in nature: a sea star.
Pentagon Path.
Tracing with pentagon inset.

Mind
Build pentagons out of loose parts.
Make a pentagon on the geoboard.
Find pentagons in the world around us.
Sort shape/object cards.

Recent Work

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 05:49:00 +0000

With weather being less than ideal, it's been a flurry of work around here. Here's a peek at what we've been up to...

We introduced the cards and counters. Not only does this work reinforce the link between quantities and their symbols, it is a beautiful and hands-on way to discover the difference between odd and even numbers.

We repeated the experience with number tiles from the red and blue rods and points from Spielgaben. We've been reading a few odd and even books as well. Odd Todd and Even Steven has become a favorite for both kids. Silas wants to read it daily and it's a regular occurrence for Theda to run around shouting "Odd Todd!" We've also checked out One Odd Day and My Even Day, both by the same author. I prefer Odd Todd, but Silas is really taken with them.

I always assume that worksheets don't really fit in the picture of learning that I'm trying to create, but sometimes they can surprise me. Although I don't rely on them as part of our schooling, I'll occasionally print off some free printables to fill the empty slots in an afternoon or set them out for Silas to discover first thing in the morning. In the one above, coloring all the odd numbers in one color and the evens in another reveals a hidden picture. He had a wonderful a-ha moment while coloring it. He noticed immediately that it included the numbers 11 and 12 and he commented that we hadn't learned those yet. He then went on to figure out that 11 must be odd and 12 must be even because he knew that 10 was even and they go every other one.

Never one to be left out of the action, Theda loves to snatch Brother's pencils and markers. Sometimes the marks even make it on to the paper! This is her "stinker face" by the way, although she will deny it and say "No, stinker face!" if you try to claim that that is indeed what it is.

Introducing the Montessori materials on the late side of things, as we are, means that Silas blows through the works pretty quickly and rarely is interested in returning to them. So, I'm always looking for extension ideas. In this one, the red and blue rods are used for some patterning. He was not a huge fan. I might try to engage him with it once more, but then I'll probably just let it go.

We've also been spending a ton of time playing with pentagons, but there's enough there for a post of its own!

Working With Clay

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 20:47:00 +0000

It's been awhile since our last clay exploration, which was this past summer and was a full body immersive experience. Clay between toes is the best! It was time to pull it back out again as we progress through the projects in The Language of Art, which we are using as our art curriculum and which I still love and highly recommend.

The intent was to have this be an open-ended exploration of the effects of water on clay; noticing how the characteristics of the clay transform as more and more water is added. My dear Silas, though, really, really likes to make representational objects. I told him that artists often "mess around" with their material and experiment to learn what they can do and encouraged him to do the same, but he would not be deterred and continued to make his snowman.

For language arts this year we are reading folk tales from around the world. This past week's story was The Sparrow and the Crow and in it, crow is trying to make a clay pot to hold water so that he can wash his beak. So, we had our first experience in making pinch pots.

This was really hard work! Silas had to use all his muscles to push his thumbs into the center of his clay.

"I like to make holes. They're fairy houses!"

"I'm making it all level so no water splashes out when crow fills it."

"I put a deeper layer of clay on the bottom so it's a little more waterproof."

We dove back into our homeschool routine the first week of January. Looking back on the first semester of this school year I've decided that I'd like to be more specific in my planning and more intentional in my documentation to facilitate more frequent and deeper reflection. I'd like to bring a little bit more of that into this space. We are having such a positive experience with kindergarten at home this year, I love to offer encouragement to anyone who might be considering it.

Handmade Holidays: Solstice Jammies

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 06:20:00 +0000

So, I've been wanting to make mama-made Solstice Jammies a tradition in our family for the past six years. Finally (finally!) they made their first appearance this year.

I love the winter solstice traditions that SouleMama has nurtured for her family. The pre-dinner bonfire, the candlelit dinner, and the mama-made matching p.j.'s for the kiddos. Those first two elements will make an appearance for us eventually, but for now I was delighted to just have the jammies made for the kids.

Silas' are the Alex & Anna Winter PJs from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop and Theda's is the Piper Onesie from Sadi and Sam, both in the leftovers from the birthday shirts we made earlier this fall. I am still quite new at sewing knits, so I'm glad that no one will be looking too closely at these pajamas. There were some tension issues and an overuse of zig zag. Overall, though, I'm really happy with them. Silas' fit, he likes them, and it absolutely makes my heart melt to see him wear them. Total win! Theda's, on the other hand, while totally cute, were about 2 sizes too big. I tend to always start my sewing projects at night after the kids are in bed, and didn't have the foresight to actually measure her, so I just went ahead and made the 18-24 month size. Whoops! How about we spin it that I'm just really ahead of the game for next year, okay?

Handmade Holidays: Kid-Made

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 04:34:00 +0000

Oh my! Are we a quarter of the way through January already? Huh. That's crazy. There was such a flurry of making around here in the weeks leading up to Christmas - I didn't do a good job of documenting it at all. I was too worried about everything remaining half-finished. But, fortunately, (almost) everything made if off the needles/sewing machine/drawing board in time to find its way to its recipient on Christmas morning. The exception being Steve's hat, which was wrapped still on the needles with 6 or so rows left to go, but I figure that's kind-of charming, right? Right?

First up is Theda's gift to Big Brother Silas. She found this little bit of a fossil several months ago in the gravel right in front of our house; a favorite play spot for her throughout the past summer. She was fascinated by the way that it felt and I thought it was pretty neat too, especially with the hole already in it. So, I tucked it away thinking that we could make something with it for him. I had envisioned incorporating it in to some sort of sun catcher or chime or something like that. But, we were getting down to the wire, so a necklace it became. And he loves it!

Now for the gifts created by my dear Silas. For Daddy, he drew an entire box full (yes, that is a unit of measure) of drawings with the instructions that Steve was to put them "everywhere" at work.

Theda received an undersea drawing populated with sparkly puffy sticker sea creatures. She was delighted by it because these were the very same stickers, in fact, that she had tried to swipe from him at some point prior.

And for mama? Well, I think I made out best of all. One day, out of the blue, Silas asked me, "what's your favorite animal, mama?" Of course I answered, "fox." He just nodded and didn't say another word. A week or so later we were picking some things up at the fabric store. He was looking around one aisle over from me and when he came around the corner he was embracing a bolt of bright yellow cotton. "Mama! Can we bring this home?" he asked, "But, I can't tell you what it's for." So, I pointed him towards the line for the cutting table and coached him to say that he wanted "half a yard" when it was his turn. Of course, I had to make sure that I had something very pressing to do alone and out of the house on the morning of Christmas Eve Day, leaving the kiddos with Steve.

Steve reported that this fox sculpture really was all Silas. Initially, he had a grander design that involved wood and a saw, but when Steve suggested that they might want to scale it back a bit, Silas bounced right back and found a way to make his vision come to life, even with Daddy's limited woodworking capabilities.

And, of course, no gift would be complete without an accompanying book.

I'm a lucky mama, indeed.

Third Week of Advent: The Light of Animals

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 16:12:00 +0000

The third Light of Advent, It is the light of beasts:

The Light of faith that we may see In greatest and in least.

I've written before about our slow journey to creating family rituals and celebrations. We took a year off of pretty much everything last year as we focused on moving. So it was with renewed enthusiasm that we dove in this year. In some sense, we're taking all of December "off" from most of our usual homeschool activities so that we can focus on the winter festivals. But, that preparation and celebration is so in keeping with what we do for schooling anyway; it all really flows together.

During yesterday's dinner we lighted the third candle in our advent spiral, signaling the beginning of the week in which we honor the animal kingdom.

In the past we've made bird seed feeders and strung popcorn as treats for our outdoor animal friends during this week and we do plan to do that again this year as well. I wanted to add a bit of handwork, though, and to create something to add to our winter garden.

Over the past year Silas has gathered a ridiculous number of snail shells from our yard (a good head's up as we plan our first garden, no?). We got them out, along with a few he gathered at nature school and a couple from our collection of treasures from the sea and gave them a good scrubbing. Then we warmed up some modeling beeswax in bowls of hot water and he made some little snails to live in them.

This is the first time that we've set up a full display for advent and it's been so much fun for us all to watch the space come to life as we add to it over these December days and weeks. We started with just the green silk. On the Sunday of the first week, the week of minerals, Silas chose stones, crystals, shells, and bones (yes, bones! It's amazing what you find in pockets) and arranged them all just so.

On the first of December we added the star path - 25 stars to countdown Mother Mary's journey to the stable. The first thing Silas does every morning is to move Mary and her donkey one star closer and then count how many stars are left until Christmas. Our stars were made from clementine rinds, a cookie cutter, and a hammer.

The space really came alive the following week as we celebrated the plant kingdom. We potted some new plants just for the occasion and made a few things as well. Out came the orange and clove pomanders we made two years ago and they are still incredibly fragrant! We made two little Christmas trees by dripping green beeswax onto pine cones and Silas made little hedgehogs out of teasel seed heads (which we gathered on a nature walk this fall) with three black-headed straight pins for the eyes and nose.

The stable is re-purposed from our very first project at the beginning of this school year. Silas built it from sticks that he gathered, measured, cut down to size, and adhered together with clay he dug himself from our backyard. It was an amazing project that he attacked with enthusiasm. Not every week since then has been so idyllic, but it was a wonderful way to kick off our kindy year.

After he placed his snail creations, he had fun going through all the wooden animals to choose who got to come to the party in the winter garden. He wanted the fox to be hiding and ready to pounce on some prey. Hmmmm. I'm pretty sure that peace prevails in the winter garden, kiddo. Lions and lambs and all that.

Next week we celebrate humankind. I hope you're enjoying this holiday season as well!

Theda's Muti

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 14:52:00 +0000

I started this little knit dress for Theda way back in June. June! Can you even remember back that far? Back in those days we were sweating it out without air conditioning, spending many days at the pool, and eating lots and lots of homemade ice pops. At that time, she was still a crawler and so I was avoiding any actual dresses and instead favoring shorter tunic-type tops that wouldn't trip her up as she crawled about.

Silas took his first steps on the late end of the spectrum, walking at fifteen months. So, I didn't worry when month fifteen came for her and she still had no interest in being bipedal. But then month sixteen and month seventeen came and went. We'd take her by the hands and try to help her stand, but she would get so mad at us when we did! She simply did not want to walk and would not be coaxed into doing so until she was ready.

Two days before she turned 18-months-old, she walked ten steps across the room to get to grandma (I missed it!). There was no warm up, no cruising around while holding on to furniture. She just waited until she was ready and then she walked. And then she started to run. And climb. She is a far more daring soul than Silas was at this age, which I'm sure is in part due to differing personalities, as well as to the fact that she has an older brother encouraging her to climb onto the table.

So, the dress. By the time I did finally finish it, she was up and walking and totally able to navigate while wearing it. The timing was meant to be. The pattern is Muti (Ravelry notes here) and I used Quince & Co. Finch in Kumlien's Gull. Love, love, love. Q&C is quickly becoming my go-to yarn. It is a pleasure to knit with and I always know that I'll like the results. And the dress? It is such a sweet little thing, but not nearly as sweet as the little girl who wears it. Whenever she has it on she rubs her fingers over the front and says, "mama!" It's pretty precious.

Joining Ginny.

Quick sewing

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 17:58:00 +0000

Goodness, I don't think I've sewn but two things since we moved over a year ago. There was a little treasure bag for a friend's birthday back in the spring and maybe something since then? I'm not sure.

Like any flat surface in my house that is not actively being used (so...everything that is not the dining room table) my sewing table became a catch-all for little bits and pieces that had no home. Having to clear all that away and then also find the motivation and time to start a project? Well, I found that challenging. But when Halloween was upon us and Silas handed me his design for his desired costume this year, well, it became a priority.

He went through many possible costume ideas, most of them involving combinations of things, the most elaborate being a train/clock/dragon ensemble, before he settled on a robot ghost. You got it, kiddo. Can do.

We luckily found a white sheet at the thrift store without too much searching and the rest were bits and bobs from around the house that we sewed or glued on. Silas had grand plans for the light panel, wanting it to flash red, yellow, and green, "like a traffic light!" I handed this portion of the production over to daddy, who, of course, over-designed the whole thing, spending several late nights writing code to make said lights happen and make it all remote-controlled via his smart phone. I just made a pocket for it all to sit in and didn't ask any questions.

While sewing, the foot pedal on my machine started to make a concerning crackling noise. There were sparks. Luckily, my mom handed down to me a spare machine, which was waiting patiently in the basement for me to actually learn how to use it. Well, no time like the present, right? And while my old machine could only do a forward straight stitch, this new-old machine can do a zig-zag. Knits! How exciting!

Initially, the Little Miss was going to be a chicken, prompted by her love for visiting our neighbor's "bok bok's" on our daily walks. But, well, we just never made it to a craft or fabric store to get the necessary ingredients for such a costume, so we had to come up with something we could make with what we had on hand. And it ended up being absolutely perfect. This girl does a mean great horned owl impression.

And with those two projects completed, we were on a roll! Silas was invited to celebrate the birthday of a dear fashion-loving friend. Matching friend shirts was the obvious choice for a gift. Silas and I scrolled through fabric.com looking for "something red." These "barnacles" caught his eye.

"What else does your friend like?" I asked. "Unicorns" he replied without hesitation. Well, that made the choice pretty easy.

Of course, I was sewing right up until he and daddy were putting on their coats and getting ready to head out the door to the party, but they did leave with two completed shirts. One nicely wrapped, and one on a bouncing 5.5-year-old. He was absolutely thrilled to wear it and I think the birthday boy was pretty happy too.

And can I just pause for a moment and say how amazing this kid is? I mean, look at that sweet face. All too often these days I get swept up in just getting through each day. I've fallen into doing more managing than mothering and it's really no fun for anyone. We're not quite to the season of making resolutions, but if I were to make one right now, it would be that I return to a practice of being fully present in the moment. Of being open to silliness and laughter. Of really looking into these little eyes and hearing his voice. Because when I do, all the anxiety and worry that I have about getting things done simply melts away. All the pressure about how to spend my time evaporates. It's clear. This is what's important. This is my work. It (and he...and she) deserve my focused attention. Every. Single. Day.

Beginning Reading

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 14:26:00 +0000

Silas is starting to show a keen interest in learning how to read. I believe strongly that a child who is raised in a literature-rich environment will learn to read when they are ready with very little instruction. Reading together has always been a daily activity for us and I make an effort to model reading for pleasure by doing so when the kiddos are around.

About a year ago Silas asked to learn all of the letters and how to write them and we've been doing so off and on, following his interest. Now it is a frequent occurrence that we have to pause on our daily walk or linger in the store because he wants to sound out the words on a sign.

Wanting to continue to follow his lead and to provide materials to support his interest I've been looking at some beginning reader books. I found a set of Bob Books at the thrift store, so I thought we'd give them a try. They are absolutely fine. But, I've spent the past five years being really choosy about the books that we add to our collection and I hoped to find readers with a little bit more beauty, warmth, and soul. So, when the folks at Home Grown Books offered to send me a few books from their collection to review, I jumped at the chance.

The first thing that I noticed about these books is how beautiful they are. They are the result of the collaborative efforts of artists and educators; the warm illustrations draw you in and the word choice and sentence structure are carefully chosen to encourage development of literacy skills. With titles about things such as gardens, the earth, and animals, the subject matter definitely draws him in and holds his interest.

These have lived in a basket on our shelves for awhile now and Silas often returns to them; sometimes to look at and ponder by himself and sometimes to have me read them to him. There are several other titles available. I just may have to get them all.

Books were provided for review courtesy of Home Grown Books. All opinions expressed are my own.

Nature Study: Mosquitoes

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 01:57:00 +0000

It started with a dead mosquito on the floor and turned into a two month long interest led, Reggio inspired nature study. Luckily (?) it was a banner year for mosquitoes, so we had plenty of opportunities to collect specimens, observe them, and to learn all about them.

At this age (5.5) most of our nature study is simply learning to look closely, notice details, and to translate what we see into words and drawings. We also practice thinking of questions and coming up with strategies for finding answers.

To look at the whole mosquito body that we found, we first looked at it under our tabletop magnifier (we have one similar to this). Silas wanted to see it in more detail, so we got out our magiscope and used it for the first time. This is a popular microscope in homeschooling circles and for good reason. They are heavy duty, making them durable enough to take out in the field, and they are simple enough to use that even the very young can use them independently and without frustration. As an added bonus, you can use them with slides as well as with 3-D specimens, making it perfect for getting a closer look at our mosquito.

In our very first viewing I first wrote down all of Silas' observations as he narrated them to me. Then, I asked if he had any questions and wrote them down as well. Some of them were pretty straightforward ("why do they drink blood?" and "why do bug bites swell up and get red?") and then there were some that revealed inklings of critical thought ("If we're sick and they bite us, how do they not get sick?" and "How do we know it it's a he or a she?"). All of them provided points of entry for further study and discussion.

When we collected a second dead mosquito, we used it as an opportunity to practice wet mounting slides. I had been searching high and low for a collection of slides that included several mosquito parts and almost bought a vintage set, but then had the epiphany that we could just make them ourselves. At every stage he drew what he saw and asked me to label them for him.

At some point in the summer Silas filled up a tub of water and stashed it in a patch of weeds in our backyard saying that he wanted to "create habitat for the frogs." I kept saying that we needed to dump it out, but he insisted that there were "tiny little tadpoles" swimming around in there. Well, when I finally crawled back into the weeds myself, I saw that they were definitely not tadpoles. They were, of course, hundreds of mosquito larvae. We scooped some up to bring inside before we dumped the tub. As we set up the larvae in their new indoor home, Silas asked if we would set the mosquitoes free when they emerged. We raised butterflies in a similar fashion and released them once they reached adulthood, why are mosquitoes different? Good question! Why is a mosquito different than a butterfly? Who says kids can't think philosophically!

Inside, we tried a couple different strategies to look closely at the little wrigglers. Of course, we just watched them swimming around in their jar, but we also put the larvae in a clear acrylic tray, along with some water, and then put the whole thing on the light table.

We also got out the OHP and experimented with putting the tray on there to project their image on the wall. Here, Silas is holding a piece of paper up to the wall and is tracing the projections of larvae.

We made the assumption that there was enough bacteria in the water to feed the larvae, but we were wrong. They ended up cannibalizing each other until there was only one left. When we realized what had happened, we put in a small bit of an outer leaf of lettuce that had gone bad, with the hope that one little larva could find enough bacteria there to survive. It did and we did get to see it change into a pupa. An adult mosquito never did emerge, though, and the pupa seemed to just disappear. We've read that their metamorphosis is an incredibly sensitive time and jostling the water in the jar at just the wrong time could have caused a newly emerged mosquito to drown before it would have been recognizable as such.

Through all of this he was asking questions and finding answers. We read The Life Cycle of A Mosquito by Kalman and matched models with cards of the process to reinforce that learning.

We took an afternoon trip to our local museum of natural history to view their collection of mosquitoes. We adore our museum and go there very frequently. Their entomology collection is not on permanent display, so they got it out just for us to see and the collections manager did an amazing job of answering all of our questions.

In all of our studies I try to find opportunities for us to engage with our larger community. While looking for resources I stumbled upon The Invasive Mosquito Project and it gave us a chance to participate in crowd sourcing data. The idea is that you put mosquito egg collection cups (just cups with water and strips of paper, really) outside. Then, after a week, you dry out the paper and any eggs floating on the water should be preserved on the paper, which you then send off to be counted and recorded in an attempt to gain a better understanding of which species mosquitoes are breeding where and in what numbers. We put out our cups, but didn't collect any eggs. It was quite a cool week that we set them out, so we may have missed our window of opportunity and will have to try again next summer.

Above is our Interest Table. On the wall is a poster of Mosquitoes of the Midwest. We have the magiscope with the slides that we prepared as well as a magnifying glass to observe our adult mosquito specimens as well as the larvae in the jar. A clip board with paper and fine-tip Sharpies are always available for recording observations.

Mosquitoes have compound eyes, so we looked through this prism to get a feel for what the world looks like to a mosquito. One other thing we did to "be" a mosquito was to play mosquito tag. Silas LOVED this and asked to play it again every day after I introduced it. Each player gets a sheet of stickers (the little red dots used to mark garage sale items are perfect) and the goal is to get all your stickers on the other person before they get all of theirs on you. It's really less of a game of tag and more a game of chase. The really wonderful thing about it, though, is that you can tailor how long the game lasts by how many stickers you have. We found that three stickers was the perfect amount for burning off some mid-afternoon energy.

You'll also see here the life cycle cards and models as well as one of Silas' first watercolor observational paintings, illustrating how the larvae move in the water. We also read Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, a West African folk tale, and really enjoyed it. We watched several YouTube videos, including a magnified view of a mosquito head, a larva turning into a pupa, and an adult emerging after metamorphosis is complete.

I should note that this Interest Table is not something that I put together myself and then presented to Silas. Rather, we start with an empty table and then fill it up with our resources as we find and gather them together.

Looking back on this exploration, it really was a fantastic one! Not only did we learn a ton about mosquitoes, we gained a better understanding of these little critters that are a near-constant presence in our summer outdoor play.

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Exploring Water: An Inquiry Approach

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Sat, 15 Oct 2016 18:19:00 +0000

This summer was a hot one. It was the first that we've spent without air conditioning. In general, we try to seek out water wherever we can, but on the hottest days it was absolutely crucial that we do so. July seemed like a perfect time to star an inquiry about water.

Here Silas is creating a "fountain." Shortly before starting this exploration he saw an episode of Mr. Rogers (1999, episode 1741) that focused on water and fountains and he was blown away by it. It inspired many plans and drawings of how to recreate the fountains that he saw.

I pulled out my copy of Exploring Water with Young Children (another title from the same series as Building Structures with Young Children, which we followed last winter) and started gathering materials. I really can't speak highly enough about this book. It's intended for early childhood educators to use in the classroom, but it is so easy to adapt to the home setting. Everything is clearly laid out; all I had to do was glance at it in the evening and I felt prepared to make meaningful observations of Silas' play the next day.

The biggest purchase was the water table. Prices on Amazon are so variable, I stalked it until the price dropped and then snatched it up. I looked for months on Craigslist, but only ever saw the plastic ones that are really for younger children. For our initial open exploration, I set out clear plastic containers, gathered from our recycling bin and the thrift store; clear flexible tubing in a variety of diameters and cut to various lengths, which were just a few cents a foot at the hardware store; and a set of funnels.

It was so interesting to just sit and observe his play, taking notes, recording his comments, and photo documenting! It was such a window into his ability to problem solve and I got so many clues about his understanding of the properties of water.

He created this double funnel apparatus (picture above) over and over again. The first time he created it he said,

“I’ll put this [a second funnel] in the opposite side and this [the tube] in a circle and see what happens. Look! It [the water] goes in a circle!”

Several play session later and he was still making the same apparatus. We had this exchange about it:

“You’ve done this experiment before. Is anything different this time?”

“The tube is longer.”

“Does that change anything?”

“It takes longer for the water to go around.”

It can be so hard to refrain from "instructing" in these moments. I try hard to choose my words carefully and to ask questions that help me better understand his thinking rather than questions that "test" his knowledge by seeking a "right" answer.

Kids are learning all the time. So often we expect them to demonstrate their learning in ways that don't really suit them. But if we adults just take a step back, observe, and ask some open-ended questions, we would be amazed by what they understand.

For example, If I asked Silas to explain displacement to me or asked him to demonstrate his understanding of that concept in some abstract way that would appear on a test, he would most likely be hard pressed to answer correctly. But, he totally gets it. I know, because we had this conversation during the moment photographed above:

“It’s spilling out.”

“Did you add more water?”

“No.”

“So, why do you suppose it’s spilling out?”

“My arm takes up space and pushes the water out.”

The book guides one from this initial exploration to two focused inquires into how water flows and the nature of drops of water. In all honesty, this summer we just focused on the open exploration. The water table is stored away now for the winter, but both of us are excited to bring it back out again next year and pick up where we left off.

To close out the investigation, I invited some of our homeschooling friends to join us on a trip to the wastewater treatment plant. Silas has for years been fascinated with where the water ends up when it goes down the drain and a recent interest in watching the "ball float" (we have to watch the tank fill up almost every time we flush) paired well with our water inquiry.

In situations such as these - in a large group, in an unfamiliar place - it's hard for me to discern how much Silas is taking away from the experience. He stayed pretty quiet and seemed a little bit anxious. But, when describing the experience to daddy that evening he do so with great detail and enthusiasm and in the days and weeks that followed, he brought up things that the tour guide said. It was clear that his mind was working through all that he had seen and heard.

There are so many children's books about water and the water cycle. These were some of our favorites: Kumak's River, Water Can Be, A Cool Drink of Water, All the Water in the World, and Water in the Park.

To extend learning from our trip to the waste water treatment plant, we read: Toilet: How it Works and looked at select pages from Material World: A Global Family Portrait. (A note about the second title: its purpose is to give a real and raw picture of living conditions around the world and that it does very well. As such, there are images that may be upsetting to young children and I encourage you to preview the book before leaving it out for children to have free access to. I chose to have us look only at the two-page spread of "toilets around the world.")

Happy

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 03:45:00 +0000

This morning... rushing to get out the door in time to take one of the kitties to the vet. An 8:15 appointment with my two early risers seemed perfectly reasonable at the time of scheduling, but after a middle-of-the-night waking that disrupted us all, we woke with just enough time to get dressed, eat a banana, and head out the door. A real breakfast was had upon our return home, which was followed by a walk. Our neighbors have backyard chickens and little Theda adores visiting them. Every morning she looks earnestly at me and asks, "bok boks?" When I respond in the affirmative, she spins in a circle and breathlessly says, "Happy!"

This afternoon... Silas rides his scooter back and forth, back and forth on the sidewalk in front of our house, choosing it more often than not these days over his bicycle with the training wheels so recently removed. Zooming down the hill and pausing at the bottom to inspect the many holes in the gnarled trunk of the giant, ancient Catalpa. It is a tree full of stories, I'm sure. I can see why he's drawn to it. Only officially a walker for the past two weeks, Theda clings to the backs of my knees when she wants to make a request. If not "up" or "hop," then it's "book." A million times yes, my love.

Nature Study: Cicadas

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 13:28:00 +0000

While doing my not-nearly-frequent-enough pass with the vacuum cleaner upstairs, I happened upon a dead mosquito on the floor. What luck! Immediately I called Silas in to preserve the specimen for viewing. We spent a delightful afternoon recording our observations and asking all sorts of questions. Doing so made me realize that it's been a whole year (!) since our last focused nature study and I never did get around to writing about that one (!!). Hard to believe, right? I mean, it's not like I had a new baby or an impending move or anything like that to keep me busy. *ahem*

Late last summer Silas became really obsessed with cicadas. Every morning he would take his little collection jar outside and gather all the "shells" that he could find. This collection was so important to him, I should note, that it made the move and is currently sitting on top of his dresser in our new house.

Most of our study consisted of really close observation. We listened as they sang us to sleep every night. We used a hand lens to look at the shells and other cicada parts that we happened to find outside and then drew them. We spent a glorious morning with some friends at the Natural History Museum looking at the specimens housed there and drawing what we saw.

We also read books, our favorites being Cicadas by Squire and Cicadas Strange and Wonderful by Pringle. Right after the trip to the museum we made a pinch drum, which is a wonderful model of how a cicada makes its sound. We folded origami cicadas. Well, I folded and Silas played. He was only 4 at the time.

There are many, many cicada videos online, but we especially liked this snippet from the longer documentary The Return of the Cicadas. Cicada Mania is a pretty comprehensive resource that I used to better educate myself so that I could more effectively guide Silas' learning. He also decided to dress as a cicada for Halloween that year and so there was a lot of practical work in translating his drawings into a costume. The construction of the wings was an especially beautiful process.

We looked closely at cicadas for about a month. I had grand plans of doing a different in-depth nature study each month, but things just didn't shake out this way. We're so excited to be getting back to it, though. I can't wait to see what we learn about mosquitoes!

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Artist Study: Matisse

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 16:32:00 +0000

"I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things." - Henri Matisse

The second artist that we learned about in our Charlotte Mason-inspired artist study is Henri Matisse. This was a fun one! Matisse's works are so full of color and are so playful; Silas really enjoyed being surrounded by them.

Much like Monet, there are so many great picture books about this artist. Our favorites were: Matisse's Garden, Henri's Scissors, The Iridescence of Birds, Matisse the King of Color, Colorful Dreamer, Henri Matisse, and Oooh! Matisse.

As before, we just checked out prints from the library to hang on our art wall and read books about the artist to immerse ourselves in his work. Our local art museum does have a Matisse in its collection, which we plan to go see soon. As I plan our artist studies, I'm trying to let what is available to us locally guide my choices. I think it's really important to see these works in person.

YouTube is such a great source to enrich these studies, even though it wasn't the first thing that popped into my mind when searching for resources. We enjoyed this video of Matisse drawing and speaking about his work as well as this video of Matisse creating a paper cut work.

To bring it all together, we created art "like Matisse." I asked Silas what he thought it would mean to do that. He said that he most liked the papercut works that Matisse did late in life, so that was our inspiration. I gathered a big stack of paint chips to cut shapes out of, which were then glued to a watercolor background that Silas painted.

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A Rainbow Hat

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 14:50:00 +0000

There's nothing like a stretch of 90 degree weather to motivate some knitting, right? Poor Silas requested a rainbow hat for this past winter. The pattern was chosen and the yarn purchased, but with moving that project just never made its way onto the needles. Then the hot weather hit and our lack of air conditioning and single fan left me planted on the couch at the end of every day wanting to move as little of my body as humanly possible. Suddenly, knitting seemed like a great way to pass the time. By the time the heat broke he had a finished hat for next winter.

This is the Rainbow Trout pattern (ravelry notes here) and I used Crystal Palace Mini Mochi because it was the only self-striping rainbow yarn I could find after a quick search. It is very very soft and I like it, but I probably wouldn't choose it for a hat again. For socks, though, it would be divine. The pattern is fantastic and was a perfect way to add some visual interest to the rainbow stripes without being too distracting.

Joining Ginny.

A Scooping Game

noreply@blogger.com (cpcable) — Fri, 27 May 2016 12:30:00 +0000

Lately, we've been spending a goodly sum of our time in the front yard playing in the rocks. Silas is building quite an elaborate fairy house and garden (complete with pond, bridge, and stable for fairy animals) and Theda loves to splash in a little pan of water.

She is deep in an enclosing schema and much of her self-directed play consists of putting things into things. I often give her a pile of objects and an empty container and one by one she will put each thing into the basket. Her focus is amazing to watch; she is very determined that all things must be put away.

When giving her a little pan of water outside, I didn't give too much thought to the set-up - just some water with a spoon and a little cup - but she developed a little game for herself that she's been playing over and over for days now. One at a time, she'll pick up a rock, toss it into the water, and then scoop it up with the spoon. Then, very carefully, she removes the rock from the spoon with her other hand and brings the spoon all the way up to her mouth to drink whatever water is left in it. She will then either toss that rock and begin the process anew with a different rock, or she will place the rock back onto the spoon and dump it back into the pan of water. Over and over and over again.

There's also a fair amount of splashing and, of course, dumping going on too. But, this little game of hers, that she comes back to again and again, seems to be fulfilling a need for her. What exactly she's learning about the world or what skill she is trying to master I'm not quite sure, but it's not really important that I do. I trust that she knows best and am happy to watch her work.