Last Friday afternoon it poured down with rain which called for cosiness and spoiling yourself a bit. Miss 14-year-old and I had just got back from her fitness class and we decided to treat ourselves to coffee and our current favourite of a dark chocolate Kit Kat, shared. We settled down for a peaceful time together and looked through one of my favourite knitting pattern books.
Knitting is making a comeback in popularity and is the new cool craft. I have taught all my children to knit – girls and boys. It kept fidgety boys still while I read to them when they were small, and they made little things like nice bookmarks for their sisters for birthday presents. The girls carried on knitting as they got older and tried knitting garments for their dolls, and later for themselves, their baby or even their nephew. I like to knit on long car journeys, while watching television or chatting with friends, or listening to an audio book. I go for reasonably simple patterns; ones that I can pick up and knit at any time, rather than ones that need my full attention.
I have some very beautiful knitting books (like Weekend Knitting) on my book shelf that I love to turn to for inspiration when I want to knit for my family. They are a good investment, I think, because they serve a dual purpose. First I get a lot of pleasure from browsing through the books like I did last week with my daughter, and then I also find that having good books on my own book shelf, and so always available to me means that I do use them when I need a good pattern. And after last week’s browse I now have two new projects on the go!
Hi Stephanie
I’m new to homeschooling, so it’s good to hear from other parents who homeschool.
I have one question. How do you deal with the guilt if you didn’t had the perfect day and you didn’t done all the work you wanted to do with your kids. I feel I have to do Maths, Reading and Writing with them everyday, and then there is PE, Social Studies and so on.
Do you have any advice for a beginners’ guilt trip?
Thanks
Alida
Hi Alida,
What a wonderful lifestyle choice you have made. The guilt problem can be a concern when you start out. We usually have very high hopes and unrealistic expectations of ourselves and our children. This is the fast road to burn out. The best way to deal with it is to change your expectations. Try not to do ‘school at home’, and aim for ‘learning together’ and enjoy being with your children.
Stephanie
We have just started knitting this year. It is wonderful! We have found some ‘knit for Barbie and you’ books which are simple and small projects. It is so rewarding!