The Girl's Needlepoint

Last winter, The Girl started trying some needlepoint on plastic canvas. At first I didn't want to be too prescriptive; I just gave her some pieces of canvas and some string and let her play. But once she got the feel of it we decided to start a project, and chose a coaster from the Kristin Nicholas book Kids Embroidery (recommend!)

She started slow, and I helped her with each stitch, and wove in her ends and threaded her needles. We let it languish for a few months when more exciting stuff was happening, but a couple weeks ago picked it back up again. She really got the hang of it, and the other day she finished. Here it is!



She was very proud! And couldn't wait to start another, this time in checkerboard-ish multicolored squares in a random order. It's going to be a christmas gift for her auntie. (Shh... don't tell!) Now she is threading her own needles, turning the corners herself, and weaving in her own ends. I only help if she isn't sure exactly where a stitch needs to go. Otherwise she is doing amazingly on her own.

I love her focus!



It's a perfect activity for hanging out on the couch, though personally I wouldn't choose this angle.