The older kids in our house have a bedtime, but they are allowed to stay up for a while after that, reading or knitting or doing some other quiet, relaxing thing.  A couple of weeks ago, during this time, Iain came back downstairs, giggling, with something hidden behind his back.  Turns out he had taken my Mini-Gnomey pattern and converted it to make a hat for the Wee Girl’s dolly (that hat is not pictured, but her doll is the first one).  What can I say?  He is my child.  All the same, I had absolutely no idea he could do that type of thing.  A friend likened it to a child growing up in a bilingual home, saying that he’s learned the knitting “language” so early that it’s just a part of him in likely a much different way then when one learns as an adult.  Many of the homeschooling families we know are, in fact, bilingual and I’ve always been a bit sad about not being able to share that gift with my children, so naturally and easily.  And all of this time, without even realizing it I’ve been teaching them a language that we can share together.

Three of these Mini-Mini-Gnomies have been add to their shop.