a late evening yarn session...

I am so loving the fact that my little girl seems to be following in my footsteps concerning handworks. It's so thrilling to me to be able to share my passion for crocheting and knitting with her. Although she's only seven, she impresses me with her diligence and patience when it comes to crocheting. She really does great with sticking with it and practicing and even with being willing to learn new things. Although there are moments of frustration at times (goodness, even I have those, and especially now that I'm learning to knit) she keeps pressing on.

She's been working on a little accessory scarf since the winter months. She and I sat down in our cozy little chairs in my bedroom the other night before bedtime. She crocheted her scarf while I worked on my knitting. And she was super-excited when she stitched her last row and tied off the yarn. I can actually still remember my very first completed crochet project. I was probably around her age when I did it. It was a blanket for my favorite doll. And, boy, was it lopsided as all! But that's how one starts when they embark on learning a new craft. Mistakes are made. More mistakes are made. And then one learns from those mistakes. Then as confidence is gained, more complicated projects seems to find themselves on the hook, needles, brush, sewing machine, etc.

Because we can't expect perfection when we're just learning. The expectation of perfection will surely lead to frustration, discouragement, and (unfortunately) possibly defeat. It wasn't until I decided to give myself permission to mess up, and even expect failed attempts, mistakes, and do-overs that I began to feel confident enough to jump into a new learning experience. That's how it's been with me whether it's knitting, gardening, or keeping animals.

So I'm very proud of my little girl's first completed crochet project. It was delightful to see her delight over her very own handmade scarf! And I look forward to many more such evenings when we can sit down together and play with our yarn and spend time talking.