I needed a kid of my own who was available for hugging. It's a good thing Mr. 10 was of a similar mind, having informed his mother that he was in need of his own special time with me. She brokered the arrangements, paid for lunch, and chauffeured us around town, content to let us have our fun, as long as she didn't have to follow us around the fabric stores.
That was just fine with us. We were on a roll, and we weren't letting a little thing like being unable to purchase the fabric we wanted at WalMart because there was no one who could cut it for us... and NO, we were not to cut it ourselves..... get in our way. We were on a mission.
JoAnn's Fabrics came to our rescue, once we found it. Mr. 10 and I agreed that we could love the $4.99/yard fabric every bit as much as we could love the $12.99/yard fabric, and with the savings we could make a blanket for his very good friend, and still have money left over.
Responsible 10 year old boys are some of my favorite people on earth. Mine managed to remember the blade-less tool, and found a replacement, suggested by Amster who, by this time had finished with World Market and missed her boy as much as I enjoyed having him all to myself.
This is a good kind of competition to have with a friend... who wants to hug the kid more?
And the kid accepts the hugs with smiles and a lovely leaning in, which even being in 5th grade, the oldest in elementary school, hasn't managed to embarrass out of him. He is the kindest person I know; it's lovely to reflect the light within him.
Amster took over when my fingers no longer flexed. My forearm is talking to me as I type this, 24 hours and several Bayer Aspirin later.
In order to create the fringe, which holds the two sides together, slits must be cut at evenly spaced intervals. That calls for an awful lot of slits.
The rotary cutter which Mr. 10 carted around was useless unless we wanted to sacrifice the ceramic floor tiles.... which we did not.
The protective cardboard sucked up the fury of the new blade. It made a sludgy noise and not much of a cut through two layers of fuzzy fleece.
The dogs were bemused by the whole thing. Their slobber was unwelcome, so they and their ball were banished to the couch. It was hard to explain that cuddling was an intrusion.
We finished Mr. 10's first, and he commanded me to wait until he was ready before I took this photo:
He's in there, head to foot.
And just look at that head.
Yes, he is usually that happy.
After a brief rest and some time communing with his new blanket, it was back to work we went.
The boys spent a week splitting logs and practicing archery and generally being mountain men last month on a combined family vacation near Flagstaff.
We thought he'd appreciate the arrows as something he likes and, Mr. 10 continued, I just like this other pattern for him. Those are good colors.
And they are.
And he is a good kid, who loves basketball and piano and his family and his friends.
I'm very pleased to be counted as one of them.
You need a rotary cutter mat. They're not that expensive. They don't dull the blades like cardboard will. Joann's has them in various sizes. That's a lovely blanket.
ReplyDeleteAh.... of course there is a tool for that! Thanks for the suggestion, Allison... and for the compliment, too :)
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