Clarifications and Calendars
This is just a quickie because I still have to go clean up the kitchen, then work on preparing some things for the new class I'm teaching starting this week. I just wanted to clarify that I didn't *hate* the Knit-Out yesterday, and on some levels I did enjoy it. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the kind of knitters the event was aiming for - they're just not me.
There were several comments lamenting the non-presence of smaller yarn companies. There was one booth at the Knit-Out staffed by eight of the local yarn shops who are members of the TNNA. They were handing out coupons good for 50% off any one item at any of the stores for this week only. I took one, and will be buying something at the Yarnery when I'm there for my class on Thursday - maybe a book, maybe one of the pretty bags I'm always eyeing and never ponying up the cash for. Probably not more yarn right now, as I'm feeling a bit flush at the moment.
Also, we have a couple of awesome events to look forward to this spring which will more than satisfy those local-vendor cravings. April 21 is the MN Knitters' Guild Yarnover event at Arlington High School in St. Paul, and even if you're not signed up for a class, I highly recommend that you go for the marketplace. As far as I know, it's free to go in just to see the market. There are tons of regional vendors - local yarn shops as well as yarn suppliers and designers. It's like our own miniature Stitches (although I've never been to Stitches, so I could be confused.) The best part is looking around at all the capital-K Knitters who will be wearing their beautiful garments and are happy to talk to you about them. This event is all about "my" kind of knitter. The classes are awesome, too, and it's not too late to sign up if you haven't already.
Don't forget Shepherd's Harvest, up at the Lake Elmo fairgrounds in May. There are lots of vendors there for knitting and spinning and all things fiber-y, plus you get to see the animals and eat kettle corn and sheep cheese. It's kind of like our much smaller version of Rhinebeck, at least as I imagine Rhinebeck. And it's a great place to run into awesome knitters. I'm really quite disappointed that I won't be making it to Shepherd's Harvest this year.
We've been invited to a wedding, and Julie is going to be a flower girl. Actually, if I have any readers in the L.A. area who would like to get together around Mother's Day weekend, it might be possible for me to get away for a couple of hours and do a little yarn crawling. I would love to have a shopping partner with whom to check out a store or two while I'm there.
Finally, this is going back a few days, but someone commented about how we took away Julie's toys admonishing me not to tell her she is a horrible kid. If you read my blog and pay attention to how I talk about my kids, I hope it should be clear by now that I would never say such a thing to one of my girls. That's just not how we operate around here. Also, I want to make it clear that she still has more toys available than she knows what to do with, and she still seems quite happy playing with what's out. I only cleared out the toys in the main floor living space - the upstairs is still full of toys, and the basement looks like a toy store exploded. When I'm down there, I look around and wonder how the hell we managed to acquire so much stuff for them. Julie really is all about imaginative play, and I think she could find a way to be happy with almost no toys because she will just re-appropriate whatever objects are around and pretend that they are whatever props she needs for the story she is telling that day.
Yes, I realize that she is still very small and that even teenagers don't always pick up after themselves. I remember what it was like myself. I'm just trying to set up some positive patterns now, break the cycle of frustration that I kept finding myself in, and make it easier to enforce the rules about picking up after ourselves until it becomes more of a habit.
Okay, it's getting late. Must go get to work!
There were several comments lamenting the non-presence of smaller yarn companies. There was one booth at the Knit-Out staffed by eight of the local yarn shops who are members of the TNNA. They were handing out coupons good for 50% off any one item at any of the stores for this week only. I took one, and will be buying something at the Yarnery when I'm there for my class on Thursday - maybe a book, maybe one of the pretty bags I'm always eyeing and never ponying up the cash for. Probably not more yarn right now, as I'm feeling a bit flush at the moment.
Also, we have a couple of awesome events to look forward to this spring which will more than satisfy those local-vendor cravings. April 21 is the MN Knitters' Guild Yarnover event at Arlington High School in St. Paul, and even if you're not signed up for a class, I highly recommend that you go for the marketplace. As far as I know, it's free to go in just to see the market. There are tons of regional vendors - local yarn shops as well as yarn suppliers and designers. It's like our own miniature Stitches (although I've never been to Stitches, so I could be confused.) The best part is looking around at all the capital-K Knitters who will be wearing their beautiful garments and are happy to talk to you about them. This event is all about "my" kind of knitter. The classes are awesome, too, and it's not too late to sign up if you haven't already.
Don't forget Shepherd's Harvest, up at the Lake Elmo fairgrounds in May. There are lots of vendors there for knitting and spinning and all things fiber-y, plus you get to see the animals and eat kettle corn and sheep cheese. It's kind of like our much smaller version of Rhinebeck, at least as I imagine Rhinebeck. And it's a great place to run into awesome knitters. I'm really quite disappointed that I won't be making it to Shepherd's Harvest this year.
We've been invited to a wedding, and Julie is going to be a flower girl. Actually, if I have any readers in the L.A. area who would like to get together around Mother's Day weekend, it might be possible for me to get away for a couple of hours and do a little yarn crawling. I would love to have a shopping partner with whom to check out a store or two while I'm there.
Finally, this is going back a few days, but someone commented about how we took away Julie's toys admonishing me not to tell her she is a horrible kid. If you read my blog and pay attention to how I talk about my kids, I hope it should be clear by now that I would never say such a thing to one of my girls. That's just not how we operate around here. Also, I want to make it clear that she still has more toys available than she knows what to do with, and she still seems quite happy playing with what's out. I only cleared out the toys in the main floor living space - the upstairs is still full of toys, and the basement looks like a toy store exploded. When I'm down there, I look around and wonder how the hell we managed to acquire so much stuff for them. Julie really is all about imaginative play, and I think she could find a way to be happy with almost no toys because she will just re-appropriate whatever objects are around and pretend that they are whatever props she needs for the story she is telling that day.
Yes, I realize that she is still very small and that even teenagers don't always pick up after themselves. I remember what it was like myself. I'm just trying to set up some positive patterns now, break the cycle of frustration that I kept finding myself in, and make it easier to enforce the rules about picking up after ourselves until it becomes more of a habit.
Okay, it's getting late. Must go get to work!
posted by Shelly Kang at 8:51 PM
2 Comments:
Okay, I'm envious of the many knitting events that you can go to in your area. I live in the "country" and there are no local events here. I also wanted to say that what you're doing with the toys will eventually work. My daughter is 6 and we started this at around the same age as Julie. Now, my daughter cleans up without prompting--most of the time. We (sort of) have a scheduled clean-up before every meal and before bed. It works for my 6 year old, but my 3 year old hasn't caught on yet.
Hey, you great Mama! Fabulous job with the toy-control. I used to tell my 2 girls that I was going to start sweeping, and anything *I* swept up - dirt, toys, cats (ha!) and all, was going in the trash. Boy, did they come running.
But really, kids can have too many toys, and a house has only so much space, and a Mom has only so much patience (for this kind of thing). I would take the ones that I hated most (Barbies, Little Ponies, Smurfs, BIG stuffed things) and take them AWAY. Unless it was one they would actually notice, in which case I would try to explain it to them, and if that didn't work, I'd wait a few months until they were tired of it.
Don't worry, no beloved American child is stunted by a slight shortage of toys. I know you know that. Just "Non Illegitimati Carborundum", okay?
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