sibling magic

I had the privilege of spending Sunday afternoon with a wonderful lady. One of the things we did was ohh & ahh over her crochet book collection. When I arrived back home I had "the fever" -- to pick up my beads and wire and crochet myself a necklace in honor of my upcoming birthday next month.

So yesterday, while having the kids home, I decided to have them slip into their secret identities and assist me.  This is when I call them "The Bead Team." I took out some purple and silver 24 gauge wire I had on hand (oh, come on, we all have yarn stashes, but I happen to have a wire, bead, and findings stash too), and the Team went to work randomly threading the crystal and purple beads onto the wire for me.  I took a metal hook (size C if I recall correctly) and started crocheting up the wire and beads. Six strands later it was ready to have the findings added. The Bead Team and I loved the end results.

Perhaps it was during this time inspiration and courage struck together. Or perhaps it's been a desire that's been growing while watching Casey crochet up her beautiful scarf. Whatever the reason, my son asked her to teach him how to crochet!

She set her work down, got off the couch and grabbed one of the crochet hooks she received for Christmas. Then she came to me asking if he could use one of my yarns. I didn't want to seem over excited with happiness over this as I thought in doing so he might withdrawal into shyness and decide not to. So I took a moment, looked at them, smiled and said, "OK."  I picked out a nice light tan worsted yarn for him to use.

They sat together on the couch and he watched her intensely as she made the slip knot for him. Then she started talking about the hook, quoting me in saying it should be "treated as a pet, and the loop around it is like a leash. You don't want the loop too tight because it will choke it, and you don't want it too loose as the hook will get away." He nodded his head as if in agreement. Then she showed him how to yarn over and pull the yarn through. Then it was his turn.

At first the loop just kept doing the circus act of flipping over and over the hook. After he learned to hold the loop still with his finger he was able to make his first chain stitch. Then another, and another. I sat back and watched this fantastic moment they were sharing together; it's what I call sibling magic where one teaches the other something they enjoy. They were having fun making stitches together; he, working on the chain stitch, she, working on her scarf.

I grabbed the camcorder and videoed them for a few moments. Then I decided to "interview" them and ask them to explain to me what they were doing. They giggled, goofed off a bit and then got serious. They each explained the process of making chain stitches and single crochet stitches to me. How wonderful!