My Best Baby Booties

I'm not sure what else to say about these.  They speak for themselves.  They're just that crazy cute.  I think they are without a doubt the most adorable baby booties I've ever knit.  Wear them well Sleeping Beauty!

Pattern is Baby Merry-Janes -- Yarn is Knitpicks Stroll in Sport and Fingering -- too cute!

Knitted Cupcakes and Creatures

As you can see from the cupcake picture at the left -- we've chosen to spend our spring break with needles and yarn.  These are the creations of my 13yo daughter and they're so darn cute I can hardly stand it.  I need to get her a clear muffin pan to display them in because the gross one I use to cook actual muffins doesn't display the colorful bottoms.  

She's been on a knitting jag that seems unstoppable.  She's much more tolerant of fiddly patterns than I am and has managed to make a menagerie of knitted animals!

This darling fellow was designed to be a friend to her pink stuffed flamingo named "Floyd" (get it... Pink Floyd :)  Anyway, he's primarily purple and I am in awe!

I knit this elephant, but my daughter has taken on the task of designing his wardrobe... er... "her" wardrobe, I guess.

This is just a small battalion of the ARMY of piggies that have taken over my daughter's brain.  She's knitting this obsessively round the clock.  My favorite is the teeny, tiny one.  I'll try to get her to do a close up photo of that one, so you can see it's darlingness.

Here is this morning's addition -- just too sweet for words.  I think these will be popular among her friends.

This little duck needs a better photograph, but you get the idea.  Purple is popular lately!

And, just in time for Easter... her version of the colored egg... except these won't ever grow rotten -- I want a basket-full!

And I've saved the best for last.  This was her own design and I absolutely love it -- "A Useful Pot to Put Things In"  -- I want one of these too!

Baby Knits

Our family expanded by one darling, sweet girl today.  My newest niece was born this morning and she's a beauty.  I've been meaning to post pictures of the knitting I've been doing for her and today seems like the appropriate day.

First, a blanket... made from a superwash wool (must be kind to the Mama).  The pattern is the Shale Baby Blanket from Brooklyn Tweed.

Of course I had to add matching baby socks to keep those tiny tootsies cozy (I just winged this pattern):

...and a wee baby bonnet

And as I firmly believe that all new babies should be showered with hand knits, I added a few cardigans.  The first is the classic baby surprise jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman.  The matching hat is just a basic pattern with an extra frill at the base.  The main yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash Paints (#9938) and the contrast is just a brown Cascade 220 superwash.

The last little sweater cap set is made of Madelinetosh DK (Superwash) in "Corsage"

There's more (of course), but they are meant to be Easter surprises, so I'll have to wait a bit to show them.  Suffice it to say, this baby is not likely to be wool deprived.   Welcome sweet girl!

DIY Education

"They raise chickens. They grow vegetables. They knit. Now a new generation of urban parents is even teaching their own kids."

OK, ok... I'll admit I've been known to grow a tomato or 2 (thousand), and well, there's no denying I knit obsessively --- but so far, no chickens.  Admittedly, I hang out with people who raise chickens -- but still.  So I guess I fit the above stereotype, sort of.  I most definitely don't live in an urban area and really, technically, tomatoes are fruit.  But, I teach my own kids and wouldn't have it any other way.

The above quote is from this week's Newsweek article on homeschooling entitled "Why Urban, Educated Parents are Turning to DIY Education."  Apparently, the powers that be are starting to notice... took em long enough.  

But, just as I only "sort of" fit the stereotype, I find that most homeschoolers I know are equally hard to pin down.  The closest pigeon hole you could probably stuff most of us into might be the "Do It Yourself" mentality.  The idea of handing my kids over to a school bureaucracy sounds like crazy-talk to me.  I'm far better equipped to know what my kids need and if I can't provide it myself, I can find people who can.  

So, for example,  I've got liberal arts subjects covered (in these areas, my education generally trumps most teachers -- so I have no insecurities there).  Science and math (above the elementary levels).... not so much.  But, so what?  I don't have to be master of all -- I just need to recognize the need.  Happily, my daughters are tutored in math by my stepfather (a retired HS math teacher), but even if I didn't have that connection, online math tutoring is readily available.  For science, my kids take classes as at a nearby learning center for homeschoolers (where I teach writing) and that serves the dual purpose of helping me cover areas of science I know little or nothing about (they start a marine biology class this Monday) and of providing a social outlet where they have a chance to learn in a group setting.  We go to a park day with the same group of kids and even camp with them each summer by the beach.  My kids love art and theater as well, so they also take art/drama at the learning center and are involved in a musical theater group.  Homeschoolers, at least the ones I'm around, aren't home often.  The world becomes our school and in my opinion makes homeschooled kids far more "socialized" than kids stuck in a classroom all day.  

But my point is, homeschoolers find creative and original ways to meet their kids' needs.  The defining point about them, if there is one, is that they each do it in unique ways.  We're hard to categorize because kids can't be stuffed into a "one size fits all" or even "one size fits most," style of education (and really no kid should be).  I suppose it would be simpler if we could streamline it all and make education resemble a factory-line.  But assembling widgets and assembling the needs of individuals are far different things.  It's time people began to re-think education and I think the evolution of the internet has sparked a mighty change in our educational paradigm.  The trend IS toward DIY Education and I'm happy that Newsweek noticed.  I think a revolution is afoot.

A Few Spaces Left for "Write Your Own Novel" course at Huck!

Student Novels from Fall, 2010 Semester!

Our new semester at the Huckleberry Center for Creative Learning begins February 6th and I'll be offering six writing and literature courses for kids from the ages of 7-18!  Most classes are filled, but it's still a good idea to get on the waiting list as sometimes people's plans change.  There are still a few spaces left in my Creative Writing course -- "Outline your way to a Terrific Story" -- in which kids write a novel in a semester and publish it on Lulu.com.  This is a course for kids 12+ and more information can be found HERE and HERE!

This is a challenging course, but I've seen students really grow dramatically as writers when they take on a project like this.  The planning, organizing and critical thinking involved have lasting effects on their writing abilities in other classes as well. Students become very comfortable with writing tasks and far less intimidated by big projects.  I'd be happy to answer any questions you have and look forward to working with all my emerging writers next semester!