Another One in the Family

Dear Mandella,

This is the sweetest picture of the day for me. It's my 10-year-old niece and she is showing me how she can do the knit stitch. She is taking a class at her school to learn to knit. I'm so pleased!

We all gathered at my mom's today to celebrate various milestone birthdays. My twin sisters celebrated their 60th (which is actually tomorrow), and that was doubly special (no pun intended) because one of the twins, K, emigrated to Canada. She arrived with her beau (E) this past Tuesday so that they could drive into Iowa and celebrate K's son's 40th birthday. Then they came back so that we all could descend upon them today at my mom's house. We even had Aunt Mary come over, which was a real treat for everyone because they don't get to see her as often as I do.

My niece's birthday was actually earlier in the week (same day as K's son, actually) and she was to have had a skating party today, but because K was visiting she gave it up so that they could visit us in Omaha. I made for her a little shirt and shorts, and then I made a stuffed animal for her (a dog) from the leftovers. I also made a set of Crane notes for her with her name on the front in 10 different styles/fonts. Honestly, I don't think she was crazy about them, but that's just how life is. (She was over the moon about a birthday card from one of my other sisters that contained CASH.)

Anyway, I'd gotten out some of my knitting to show my mom and that's when my niece reminded me that she'd learned knitting at school. So, we talked about circular needles and holding two strands of yarn together and all of that kind of thing. On the scarf where she's knitting a row, I'd shown her how to slip-with-yarn-in-front as a preliminary to showing her the purl stitch. It's all a bit clumsy in her hands yet, but you could tell she was feeling the magic of it, the absolute joy of knowing "the code."

Oh, and my Aunt Mary wore her scarf -- the one I'd knit for her -- so that everyone could see it. My little niece was in love with it. She loved the lace, she was intrigued by how I worked in the garter edging, and (get ready for it) she loved the colors. She loved all of those blues. She said they looked like the sky and mountains.

Oooooh. Another one in the family. I'm so proud!

Hugs!

Judith