Tag Archives: reading

Story Stretchers – Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

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Years ago when our adult sons were small we had a couple volumes called Story Stretchers. (here and here – they are a PENNY today. Still find that stunning.  I saved so long to buy books pre-amazon days)  Like the outstanding Five in a Row volumes that would come later they took a children's book and created activities based on the story's location or language or illustrations.  We haven't done full-out units in a while but I always find some element in a story we can build on a little. Once you work through Five in a Row you just start to see all sorts of potential rabbit trails inside a book. 

We read Joseph Had a Little Overcoat last week.  I love this book and like the best picture books there is so much happening in the illustrations that goes over children's heads but is totally engrossing for the grown-up reading.  Shortly after we got the book the little girls ran through the knees of a couple pair of leggings.  This is a rather regular event.  Tough girls, we have.  Before we tossed them we talked about Joseph and looked to see if there was potentially some more life in them.  

Cotton knit headbands are a favorite of Tess and Alannah right now since they don't pinch behind the ears and can hold back heavy hair.  (and don't crack in half when small people overextend them…) When I looked at them they were seriously just a tube of t-shirting.  For a dollar or two a piece?  So before tossing the trashed leggings we cut a tube off across the tops between the waistband and legs.  Quick work to turn right sides together and sew a seam, leaving a bit for turning.  You don't really even have to bother with a seam if you fold the band when you put it on or cut it into a strip and tie it instead.  

Not the world's most glamorous tute.  Just a little practical 'stretcher.'   

May 2015 headbands web (1 of 1)

 these came from pants like these…

May 2015 headbands web (1 of 1)-2

Now if someone can point me to some girl proof leggings I'd be a happy woman. : ) 

eating and reading this week

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Sept 2014 gyro dish web

Since I don't quite fit into the available memes and am notoriously erratic posting these things, we bring you books and bites this week. Maybe we shall do this again.  Maybe I will flake out and not.  Disclaimer – either scenario is entirely possible. 

A stretch for this culinarily-challenged chick the gyro meatballs and sauce from the Against All Grain cookbook which I heart. (The recipe is here in burger form.  Same same though) It's been a very long time since I have had lamb but this was a surprising hit here. I have no pic of the zoodles on my plate which is ok because the spiralizer is not here yet so my zoodles are less than photogenic.  But yum nonetheless. 

In reading news I am working through the boys' book report boys with gusto so we can discuss as they go.  This month it is The Singing Tree for Kieran and Lilies of the Field for Aidan.  The Singing Tree is the second "children's" book I have read in recent months and ended up laughing and crying my way through.  This one however hits rather close to home having a son in the military in an unstable world.  Sometimes it seems we have not progressed all that much from 1914 to 2014. Anyway, a very good read. 

Lilies of the Field is on deck tomorrow.  I admit my only reference is Sidney Poitier.  We shall fix that. Upside of waiting this long to read it is that I have recently lived in Germany.  Aidan can read the dialect lines quite well. ; ) 

Yarn Along – the pink hat

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Behold, knitting project number two. : ) The hat was actually done but I didn't get around to sharing for last week's yarn along at Ginny's.   I so enjoyed making this little hat although the yarn I used was lighter than called for so the hat was smaller than intended.  That's ok, there are a couple of small heads around here.

HAT

This was my introduction to circular and double pointed needles.  The circular knitting was a dream.  LOVED that you can get stockinette stitch without purling. No major errors, just a few stitches looser than the rest.  It seems my tension level isn't constant, much like in life…. lol.

The double points went alright but I did that part wrong.  I divided the stitches among all the needles and then began to knit so I kept ending up with too many stitches on one needle. Rebecca explained that part to me afterwards and I think I can do it right next time. 

HAT

I am stymied now for the next project. Trying to align pattern difficulty with yarn and needles I own has been impossible.  I think I am going to try to let go of the acrylic yarn stash I have and just find a pattern and the necessary yarn and needles for it.  Way too many hours on the net have not panned out. There is a fine line between thrifty and scrupulous.  A line I sometimes cross.  So someone have mercy and point me towards something small and pretty and simple.  I heard of a yarn shop not too far away and will be finding it next week.

Most of my reading has been aloud lately.  We found a Bill Bennett anthology we haven't seen before and have thoroughly enjoyed the renditions included.  The story about the young married couple and the fountain of youth nearly brought me to tears.  There was also a moving retelling of the Story of Ruth.  I see it got one glowing and one negative review on Amazon fwiw.  I like Michael Hague so it's thumbs up here. 

Another big hit was Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.  It is all the more interesting since Sue and I have been working together at Snapshots Around the World this year.  We plan to exchange a box of goodies with their family.  This is the best sort of story stretcher. 

Continuing that WWII theme, Aidan just finished The Winged Watchman for school.  We are going to tackle the book report tomorrow.   We also coincidentally rented Sophie Scholl in German last week.  I didn't realize it was subtitled 'til we got home but everyone who watched loved it.  We agreed this story was much better with German actors, having lived here.  I tracked down the book version and hope to hit that soon.