Little adventures are everywhere.  To celebrate the school holidays, we're having 5 days of adventures - each day a little bit of something to keep little hands busy.  Today, we're knitting.

The girls have been playing with these for the last few weeks.  After some experimenting, I would recommend french knitting for 7yrs plus or a very enthusiastic 5yr old.  While my 4 year old finds the french knitting appealing* the co-ordination is not quite there.

We have knitted our way through the pieces of wool that came with the doll.  The coaster was carefully stitched after the kids went to bed, keeping up a fine family tradition of coasters for Grandma**.

E is now knitting her way through a  multicolored ball of knotted ends.  The different lengths add to the effect.

You can make a knitting doll with a wooden cotton reel and carpet tacks.  There is a tutorial over at Knit for Victory.

*H picked up her doll, with the knitting already started and exclaimed "Look how much poos is coming out!"

**Mum stitched up our finger knitting and Gran used them as a coaster for her morning teapot and cuppa.

If you've met my Dad, you would swear these old fisherman paintings are all of him, from the sun reddened cheeks to the blue eyes*.

When I saw this forlorn tapestry at the back of local bazaar,** I knew exactly where it needed to go. I asked Mum for some off-cuts from a recently upholstered chair.  She was little confused when I promised to give them back.  I did give them back, eventually, just in a slightly different form.  The cushion now takes pride of place at my parents home by the beach.

This image has been a part of my family for a long time.  Nana used to have a faded re-production print of it in her lounge.  She swore it was really a painting of a distant relative. There might have been some truth in it but I never could get to the bottom of it.  I tried goggle searching the image but coudn't come up with any original.  It seams the old fisherman is has become folklore.  These little fisher-babys, on the other hand, certainly look like something I might be related to.


*Fortunately the pipe and smoking has only ever been a prop.  Though, a bubble pipe could be a pretty cool Fathers day gift at some point.

**Come to think of it, Graham, the Bazaar shop keeper would make a great fisherman too.