It's like Little House on the Prairie in here. But, with email.

As previously noted, Bob's mother gave me a knitted dish cloth when I met her at Christmas time.

Robin was quite taken with it, asking if I had thanked her very much, and if I was sure I had told her it was very very pretty.

One thing led to another, and I ended up emailing her to find out some additional details, and Friday after work we walked into town to see about buying some yarn and knitting needles. Except, they don't sell knitting needles in San Rafael and, with my car in the shop, we weren't really in a position to venture into the teeming metropolis of Heredia.

We went ahead and got the yarn anyway, and I came home to see if I could find some knitting needles I was pretty sure I had...somewhere. (It's a small apartment, but it does pack a surprising amount of somewhere.)

I didn't find the needles, but I did come across a crochet hook or two.

Or nineteen.

So, plans were modified and I re-Googled the dishcloth instructions in our new favorite technique.

Julia ended up spending the day with a neighbor on Saturday, so Robin learned first, picking it up so fast she was learning new stitches and simple patterns within the hour. I found instructions for an additional, ultra-simple yarn craft thing I'd heard of but never tried, and ended up teaching that to all three girls on Saturday night (Julia came home with a spare).

Julia got her crochet lesson today, and picked it up quickly as well.

I'd forgotten how much fun it is to do. I just wish I liked crocheted things more than I do. (Liking crocheted things made of cheap-ass yarn in the girls' favorite colors is probably asking a bit much.)

Sarchí

I've been to Sarchí a number of times now because it's part of the retreat, but Dad and the girls never had. It's a nice little half-day trip.

We went to the oxcart factory to order a chess set for...umm...what was his name again, Sandy? Anyway, for him.

This is the oldest, or the original, or the some-other-really-authentic-superlative oxcart factory in Sarchí, the town known for its oxcarts and other crafts.


It was established in the 1920s, and most of their tools are still powered by this waterwheel:

(See?)


Guido is our favorite artist there. Here he is with the chess board in question. He hasn't put the legs on it yet, but the top is all finished.


And he got out the pieces for us to see as well. They made those too. (That's a different board they're set up on, by the way.)




I wrote down all the different kinds of wood - the board includes Melina, Cenízaro, Nazareno, Guanacaste and Ronron, and the pieces are Cocobola and Guaichipelín. (Aren't you glad I asked?)

Guido was really nice to the girls, and we came away with a plastic bag full of wood scraps for them to play with at home.

In answer to Pidomon: Nobody. Nobody can resist a good cow parade.

If you read yesterday's post but didn't click the links, then this is not at all what you expected when I said the girls went to the Cow Parade yesterday.

As you can see, Robin's photographic skills were more than up to the task of documenting the experience.