Making Winter Wonderful {Work with Your Hands}

 

The snow is gently falling out my bedroom window. I have a little one napping beside me and a hot cup of tea to drink and a pile of crochet yarn to tackle. It is a wonderful way to spend a few quiet hours in the afternoon.

When I discussed with my daughters what makes winter special for our family, one of the girls said, “How can you not like winter?! I would never get to sew if we didn’t have winter!”

 

It is true. Our winter afternoons are filled with handiwork pleasure.

On the topic of winter and enjoying the season as of such, I must mention that we have a quiet time in our home during the littlest one’s nap time. Everyone indoors is encouraged to do something quietly, the boys can play outside or work with their legos, or help their dad with a project. For the girls, we use this time to enjoy our handiwork. If you do not have a quiet time in your house (and especially if you have a large, busy family!), you should try it – it’s a blissful hour or two where everyone can work on something that they enjoy, no loud noises, a peaceful reprieve from a regular busy day. I make sure we do not have to cook at this time – that the cleaning is done (the house is never perfect, but the majority of the work is done before this) and all the girls know we will have a break to do our cozy crafts.

 

 

{sewing a new dress}

Somewhere along the motherhood journey  — thank to the teaching of my grandma, who patiently helped teach nearly all of my daughters how to crochet — and our creation of a family, handiwork became something so enjoyable for us. Some of the girls sew, others crochet or work on embroidery, some paint and make homemade soaps … but whatever we do, it is a relaxing and wonderful day to spend our winter afternoons. There is no pressure that they must accomplish this task ; this is something they enjoy – and something we cannot do in the summer hours when our fingers are stained with garden dirt at the sunshine at the seashore beckons us for a romp and swim.

 

{A crocheted Bible case}

Indeed,  winter afternoon hours are the perfect opportunity to work on our homey projects … the girls will listen to audio dramas or simply just have quiet time while they work on their projects or sometimes they will just be curled up in a cozy corner of the house, enjoying their time.

 

 

 

 

Perhaps you have already read about the health benefits of working with your hands, actually producing something with your fingers. It is very relaxing, of course, it teaches patient and encourages my girls to be creative. For me, I find crocheting to be very calming.  Passing these skills down to our daughters – or learning it for ourselves – helps keep these crafts alive, passing down the information and the know-how from generation to generation.

 

 

So there you have it – we love winter for our down time, the carefully guarded lifestyle of quiet afternoons slotted for beautiful, creative moments.