My daughters and I visited the fabulous Bluebonnet Yarn Shoppe (Cedar Park, Texas) before Christmas, and I gave in to temptation. “Silk Garden” by Noro caught my eye, in shades of purple, silvery gray, olive, and touches of ochre here and there. To enhance and stretch it, I got Cascade 220 in a heathery eggplant shade. Reynolds “Odyssey” had a colorway amazingly like the Noro, so I added it to the mix. There’s enough for a big shawl or a cardigan.

I’ve been considering wavy lace patterns, Fair Isle possibilities, intarsia, and color stitch patterns. Can’t decide!

Ever eager to encourage knitting and crochet for my girls, I got Eva some eyelash yarn for a scarf. Ella, newly turned three, couldn’t bear to be left out. We bought some yarn for her frequent companion and fashion advisor, the Pinky Bug.

Naturally, the Pinky Bug loves pink. She talks in a high voice, and lavishly compliments Ella on her pink clothes, pink cheeks, pink fingernails, or pink shoes. The Pinky Bug can convince Ella to do whatever needs to be done, much better than I can. She is a great conversationalist, and, almost instantly can stop Ella from crying.

Other friends of Ella and the Pinky Bug are the Ring Bug (loves sparkle and shine), the Tall Bug (loves spots and dots), the Index Bug (loves red), and the Shy Thumb Bug (loves yellow).