Sunday, November 11, 2007

Thumb in the thumb's place

fingers all together. That's what we do in mitten weather! It's cold enough here for mittens and gloves, especially in the mornings or if one is having an extended outdoor experience. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that big brother has NO gloves or mittens that fit. What a mother! (not to mention a mother who KNITS) So I am madly knitting a pair of knucks for him and will follow that up with a pair of mittens. I did finally put the thumb on little brothers mini-fetchings ("now I am a ninja!") but the sweet baboo's knucks are suffering from the glove version of second-sock syndrome.

In the meantime, we can all enjoy some mitten stories without delving into the whole Christmas thing. What ever happened to Thanksgiving? But I digress. I can whole-heartedly recommend The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen. A woman notices a child at the bus stop with no mittens and a tradition is born. If you like the idea of gifts on trees unrelated to that conifer-driven holdiay, see if you can get your hands on a copy of The Cookie Tree (out-of-print) by Jay Williams, fairy tale spinner extraordinaire. Louis Slobodkin's Too Many Mittens, although also sadly out of print, is another book worth the trip to the library or second-hand bookseller. Who can resist the clothesline full of red mittens? A Canadian contribution to the cause is Norman's Snowball by Hazel Hutchins from Annick Press. This is a perennial favorite at storytime as Norman loses his mittens, hat, scarf, and snowsuit while playing in the snow with his older sister. Kids giggle as they notice what Norman has not--his clothes are part of his enormous snowball!

Back to the knitting! See you tomorrow.

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