Do you see that colorful little yarn pom pom ball? I made it! That's right; I made it! And sadly, I felt compelled to do a little end zone dance in my dining room upon the pom pom's completion. You see, I'm not very skilled at handicrafts, and I'm even less skilled at following how-to instructions. My eight year old daughter Hayden, on the other hand, is a genius at following written instructions. She is our family's go-to person for assembling new toys and troubleshooting Lego model constructions. That's why her hands are pictured knitting below and not mine. I just can't get the hang of it.
Clearly she inherited this ability to follow directions from her father, who built a gorgeous fourteen foot wooden sailboat from blueprints or from my grandfather who taught himself how to play the piano (well) from a series of articles in the
New Yorker magazine. I'm lucky I can follow a recipe. Twice a year there's mild profanity to be heard in my driveway when I have to pull out the minivan owner's manual to set the clocks back and forth. I don't want my children to suffer as I do so I try to give them many experiences with maps and plans and recipes. Much as I hate to do it, I also try to model good direction following habits. So yesterday when Hayden wanted to make yarn pom poms to embellish some of her creations, I breezily suggested she consult her small (two volume) library of knitting books. She came up empty, so of course we turned to the computer and found a
great crafting blog, Bella Dia, and followed its "Pom Pom Tutorial." The tutorial was easy to follow with pictures! I created that lovely little pom pom above and never broke a sweat. Of course I'm not showing you Hayden's pom pom or the example from Bella Dia or you would leave this blog post declaring mine the lamest little knot of yarn you'd ever seen.
Do you see that colorful little yarn pom pom ball? I made it! That's right; I made it! And sadly, I felt compelled to do a little end zone dance in my dining room upon the pom pom's completion. You see, I'm not very skilled at handicrafts, and I'm even less skilled at following how-to instructions. My eight year old daughter Hayden, on the other hand, is a genius at following written instructions. She is our family's go-to person for assembling new toys and troubleshooting Lego model constructions. That's why her hands are pictured knitting below and not mine. I just can't get the hang of it. 
Clearly she inherited this ability to follow directions from her father, who built a gorgeous fourteen foot wooden sailboat from blueprints or from my grandfather who taught himself how to play the piano (well) from a series of articles in the New Yorker magazine. I'm lucky I can follow a recipe. Twice a year there's mild profanity to be heard in my driveway when I have to pull out the minivan owner's manual to set the clocks back and forth. I don't want my children to suffer as I do so I try to give them many experiences with maps and plans and recipes. Much as I hate to do it, I also try to model good direction following habits. So yesterday when Hayden wanted to make yarn pom poms to embellish some of her creations, I breezily suggested she consult her small (two volume) library of knitting books. She came up empty, so of course we turned to the computer and found a great crafting blog, Bella Dia, and followed its "Pom Pom Tutorial." The tutorial was easy to follow with pictures! I created that lovely little pom pom above and never broke a sweat. Of course I'm not showing you Hayden's pom pom or the example from Bella Dia or you would leave this blog post declaring mine the lamest little knot of yarn you'd ever seen. 
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