Pokemon hats!

Here are big Pikachu & Pochama (aka Linus) wearing their new hats. Brendan has made both of them in just 2 days :) For the second hat, Pikachu's, he worked the starting-off row himself, which can be tricky. I have been doing the finishing (knitting two together around & gathering all the rest of the stitches to form the top of the hat) but I've been thinking about how to teach Brendan how to do this, too... He's ready to start one for Skitty, which will require a bit of thinking when it comes to finishing the top because of her ears.

Brendan's had a somewhat pre-adolescent day, with frustrations setting him off pretty regularly. He did (barely) manage to get through japanese lesson, which was good because it was really fun. We learned how to say "___ is ___ than ___" & had a riot coming up with sentences using the adjectives we know. I came up with "InuYasha is noisier than Sesshoumaru." & Brendan followed with "InuYasha is kinder than Naraku." We then degenerated into "Brendan is stinkier than dad." & "Brendan is more mischievous than dad." Brendan agreed with the latter statement, but did take issue with the former :)

Later in the afternoon Brendan was at loose ends & not enjoying it, so he asked me to read some "Eldest" to him. I suggested that he knit while I read, but he didn't want to. However, when I noticed that he was chewing his nails, I told him that I thought knitting was much better than biting his nails & he took the hint... & finished Pikachu's hat before dinner!

We are coping pretty well with the snowstorm that's hit the northeast US... Charlie made a fire in the fireplace which we enjoyed during japanese lesson this afternoon- very civilised. I still hope that Spring isn't far off, though :)