Rainy Day Handwork

After lunch is cleared away, the little boys nap and the whole house slows.  After the hustle-bustle of school and chores in the morning, the afternoon gives way to a more leisurely pace.  The older kids take turns reading aloud to me and then each finds some quiet activity.  Its during this peaceful lull that my girl and I pull out a pair of pointy sticks a-piece and settle in to knit.

I'm taking a rainy afternoon to knit with my daughter.  She's caught on quickly and nowadays her needles move at a slightly quicker-than-beginner pace.  Handwork may seem to some like a defunct skill from ancient times, but she sighs deeply and says "its just so peaceful, mom!"  She is exercising her brain, practicing her memory and fine motor skills. She's learning and thinking.  She's working with her hands.

We sit in companionable silence, every once in awhile she'll murmur the pattern to herself "..into the stitch, wrap-a-round, pull down and off..."  Every once in awhile I'll reach over and correct, or remind her to concentrate.  I finish a little cap I'm working on and she admires it - "I can't wait til I'm good enough to make sweaters and mittens and socks and all sorts of useful things!"

We put the knitting away when the babies awake and I make dinner while she sets the table.  After she helps her brother with the dishes, I find her once again working on her knitting.  The tip of her tongue peeks out between her lips, her forehead creased in concentration.  Thinking.  Learning.  Working.

Its a beautiful thing.