A Simple Knitting Verse for Kids

We have been reading "Children of the Forest" as it was a present for Seraphina's Birthday.

I love the way Elsa Beskow's stories take your imagination on a wander through childhood lands where fairies dwell and nature is infused with wonder.

The stories have no peril, or conflict, they meander, and as you walk with them you begin to notice how magic really does exist in the simple things of life.

The best stories always seem to open the door into the deepest part of a child''s heart and mind.

I remember, as a child, my very favorite stories were the one's my Mum told me.

Stories about everyday little happenings in her childhood.

The small details, involving the smell of fresh picked garden tomatoes sliced up on my grandmother's ancient, gnarled wooden bread board, or the way her neighbor used to call her hens in at night.

These reminders of the sacredness of the everyday would captivate and sooth to the core of me.

"The details make life holy. If you want a little happiness in life don’t forget to look at the little things. It is a poet’s work to see the incidental, pluck it, place an appropriate silence around both sides and see the profound in what passes for a passing moment. It is an artist’s job to as much discover art as create it. Prayer is a way of making the common profound by pausing, tying knots around a moment, turning our life into a string of pearls."

Noah Ben Shea

On other knitting news, Matilda has begun to knit a birthday scarf for her doll Poppy.

It is a glorious patchwork pattern of random garter and stocking stitched rows. with an odd, unexpected eyelet here and there.

The only problem is Poppy's birthday has to keep being moved forward, as her scarf is taking a little longer to knit up than Matilda expected.


I teach knitting through story...

The story goes like this.

 

We go across the field,

 

around the tree,

 
 

under the bridge

 

and over the stile....

 

This soon be shortens to the simpler version:

• Across
• Around
• Under 
• Over.

This helps the child to imagine a scene as they work with their hands aiding memorization of the process.


The illustrations were provided by Lionbrand Knitting's useful how to knit page.