Yes, this is Bethany, now four. She is holding a little critter I made her that we call a "Ticklebug." I made it from scraps of felted wool and yarn while she played with wooden beads in the studio this afternoon. It is the sort of little stuffed toy whose charm is entirely in the eye of the beholder.
A better look at Ticklebug:
She arrived shortly after breakfast this morning, and we spent some time pasting and drawing in the Big Sketch Book she has had for about a year. After a half-hour of this she was ready to try something new. I showed her some embroidery thread and she fell immediately in love with the pink variegated cotton and wanted to stitch! Oh, heart be still! I put a threaded needle in her dad's hand before his second birthday, so I've been ready for this moment for quite a while. I found a hoop, linen, and a needle with a large eye, and we began.
I was surprised that she understood easily that the piece of fabric was two-sided and that she needed to go into the fabric on the same side that the thread just came out. Only once did she wrap the thread around the side of the hoop. The beads made the stitching even more fun, and the small scissors fascinated her. Showing her how to pick them up, remove the leather sheath and open them slowly and carefully-- this was easier than I'd thought it might be because she knew immediately that this was a grown-up action in which she was being allowed to participate.
How neat it was to watch her horizon widen just the smallest bit . . .
2 comments:
Sounds like you had a wonderful and creative day with Bethany. :) She looks all grown up! (And your Ticklebug looks so fun...smiling for the camera as well!)
She can be an elegant twenty-something or a four-year old "informer." All in all, she and Ethan are a nice reward for having gotten past middle age.
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