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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Rested and Ready to Blog

Photo of the UNIQLO store in SF

Thank you to all of you who left such nice comments on my last post.  And thank you for understanding that I needed to take a break from blogging.  Now I'm back, rested and ready to blog.  Over the break a lot of ideas have been percolating in my mind and hopefully that will transfer into some good craft tutorials.  Until then, here's a little bit of what I was up to when I was gone.  

I finally got a chance to check out the new UNIQLO store in SF (pictured above).  Don't you just love those rainbow stairs?  The store is awesome and a little overwhelming.  There's a lot to look at there.  FYI, they don't carry the kids line.

I tried to teach my daughter to knit.  She was able to cast on pretty easily.  She even understood the process but her little hands could not hold the needles well while she knit.  If anyone has any recommendations for teaching a child to knit, please share!  

My daughter and I finally made one of the sewing projects she got for her birthday.  It was a bug pencil topper.  She has decided sewing is much easier than knitting.

I knit a hat!  It's been unusually cold where we live and I was able to use some of my yarn stash to knit a cozy wool hat.  It's loosely based off of this pattern.

I was able to be more spontaneous.  Instead of planning play dates at the park, we just went there if we wanted to after school.  There was no scheduling going on.   

I organized my desk.  Somehow my sketchbook disappeared and was replaced by a sea of sticky notes with cryptic writing and pictures.  I transfered all of it to a sketchbook and now have it at my desk again.  

What have you been up to the past couple weeks?

 


14 comments:

Unknown said...

Six years is a lot of blogging! So it's nice to see you back. Writing a blog is an actual job and we bloggers need regular breaks (just like everyone else). I'm glad you took one, Jessica. Good for you!

My son learned to knit as well but he has no real interest in it, and so hasn't kept it up. I sometimes wonder if he had a cool and simple little knitted item to work on maybe his interest would be sustained...

Leah said...

Welcome back to blogging :) I took a very long break a while back then just started over w/ a brand new blog, so I can relate to needing time off.

zakkalife said...

Leah,

If I had my way, I would have done that exact same thing, start fresh with a new blog.

Michelle L. said...

Sounds like a nice unscheduled interlude - boy, you needed that! Glad to hear you are back and chipper! Now you have me so curious, I really wonder what your 'fresh new blog' would look like...I wonder...

Ann Martin said...

It's good to have you back. :) How about one of the Klutz knitting book for kids? I have found several of their titles to be great, although I can't vouch for the knitting one.

Suzanne said...

welcome back! i hope you hang on to that refreshed feeling for a long time!

Anonymous said...

Welcome back!
Kris

1835-B said...

I wonder if your daughter might enjoy crochet more than knitting? As an adult I tried learning to knit but like your daughter, I cannot hold the needles well. In contrast I learned to crochet as a child which I can do well. I love the look of knitting better though.

I can recommend a childrens book "kids learn to knit" by lucinda hall and francois guy. Its very easy to understand with animal cartoons leading the instructions. And maybe your library has kids knitting videos...I found out my library had the expensive Threads sewing DVDs so maybe yours has something similar.

And welcome back! Yours is the only blog I read regularly, and I admire your work with it!

Christine said...

HI! what size needles did you use with your daughter? I know some sites recommend large sizes, but I think that's wrong and had my daughter use 8's. And shorter straight needles...like 7"?

And I bought her some real pretty wooden needles...helps with the knitting!

Jessica said...

I would suggest loom knitting... It's the same basic mechanics as knitting so your daughter will learn to read the stitches and see what's happening, but it manages it all in a way that's easier for small hands. I teach knitting to 7-12 year olds and my under 10's generally prefer the loom over needles.

Caca said...

Welcome back. As for me, I have been busy preparing for Chinese New Year.

LimeRiot said...

Welcome back!!

kasey said...

Yay welcome back! :) I never learned to knit as a child but I can vouch for what one commenter mentioned above about crochet. It was pretty easy for me to hold the needle and I've loved it ever since. As for knitting, I'm wondering if using some bamboo circular needles would be helpful? I learned to knit on them and the shorter needles were helpful when first learning to hold them and the bamboo kept them from sliding as much as they would have with regular needles.

Anyway, I hope she continues with it since knitting is fun and I'm glad to have you back! :)

Joy said...

Welcome back!!! Huge hugs!

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