Friday 23 September 2016

Poke-Story

That nephew of mine, Little E: if he texts, it's usually a matter of some urgency often requiring rapid aunt participation of an interesting kind. Saturday's message got straight to the point:

Auntie Sian, can you knit me a pokeball hat, please and maybe a pikachu too. Thank you. E xx


There was even a Ravelry link attached; and in that I detected the hand of his mother, so I texted back:

That's a crochet pattern. But there are knitted ones too. I can do that. No problem. 

She returned:

He was worried you might not know what a pokeball hat is. But I said of course you'd know


And, not for the first time, I whispered a quiet word of thanks to the generous knitters who create and post their patterns to a place where an aunt can find them first thing on a Saturday morning, right around breakfast time.

Pattern: a free Ravelry download by SashaKnits (thank you!)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino (which is machine washable)

I printed out my poke- pattern, but it was Sunday night before I was able to sit down and order some poke-wool: red, black and white aran, with a larger-than-my-usual-size circular needle, which couldn't really be called poke(y) at all because it looked so fat. And then I waited for the wool to arrive.

A couple of days later, as I listened for the postman, came not a text message this time, but the very face of Little E himself. Face time! 

"Why aren't you at school?" I asked.

"I'm sick!" he said brightly and smiled his most winning smile, so what could I do but clear my schedule and settle down for a long poke-chat. 

"I'll phone you again later, Auntie Sian: you have a lot more pokemon to learn!" he finished, quite a bit later.

And, what do you know, by the time he called back the parcel of wool had arrived and we were able to open it together. Now, this was good and this was also bad. The red and the black came out of the parcel looking poke-perfect and Little E approved. But when the white appeared? Poke-panic! It wasn't white at all, it was cream.

"That's not right," Little E shook his head. "That white has yellow in it. You need white with....grey in it."

which was pretty deep, I thought, coming from a seven year old, and also unnervingly accurate. The white wasn't white, it was yellow.

"I have to go out now," I said. "But phone me again in a hour and I'll have poke-progress to report."

So he did. And I did. I ran to the Post Office (no: not actually, what a thought) and, on my way, I tried our local wool shop, keeping my fingers very tightly crossed since  I only resort to internet shopping because this place doesn't often have what I need. I was in luck. The poke-hat was back in business, with a new white, signed off by Little E, and a big needle for some swiss darning.


It didn't take very long. So I ran back to the Post Office (no, not really). He says he likes it. But I think it's going to take a bit of persuasion to get him to take a picture. He's gone all shy. Or maybe he's just too busy chasing pokemon. Hey, Little E, I want a go!


23 comments:

Ruth said...

Little E is very lucky to have such a talented lady for an auntie ... that hat looks super cute and I bet he looks adorable in it.

Lizzie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lizzie said...

Ruth is right - Little E is sooooo lucky to have such a fabulous, wonderful aunt! Love the Poke-post, Sian!

Sandra said...

Ok, he may win in the adorable contest, but I reckon you'd win outright in the fabulous and talented Aunt competition xx

Barbara Eads said...

I love your relationship with Little E! I hope he always feels free to call you with any request! You can just tell that he thinks you are the coolest aunt! It's a win/win on both sides.

Ali said...

A great post - must admit I did laugh out loud at the part about running to the post office (what a thought :-) ) that would be me!!

Karen said...

Not only does Little E have a talented aunt, she's pretty speedy too! What a wonderful relationship the two of you have; not many are so lucky!

Karen said...

Oh, and the hat is wonderful!!

debs14 said...

No self respecting Pokémon hunter could go out in a hat made from the wrong colours! What a talented Auntie that little character has - I bet his mum is pleased you can turn your hand to so many things!

Maggie said...

Oh bless him! Isn't technology wonderful that you could open it together. It looks great!

Melissa said...

What a great hat & a lovely story! That was quite observant of Little E, knowing it was the wrong color!

Susanne said...

Well, now, the Pokemon had better be on alert, any 7 year old who can discern yellow-white from gray-white has to be feared in the Pokemon world. The need for precision can come in handy - or so I've been told by my very local hunters. Well done to both of you - and you keep coaxing him about a photo. If anyone can convince him I am sure it is you.

Jennifer Shaw said...

I love Little E. stories but am sad to think that there may not be many more captures of his cute face on your blog. The hat is terrific!

Mitralee said...

oh my what an awesome aunt you are! Lucky boy!

alexandra s.m. said...

That Little E sounds adorable and what a lovely relationship the two of you share.
Lucky boy indeed! The hat is perfect ;)
I too would love to see it on his head!

Deanna said...

So sweet! What we will do to make those little people happy. It's happiness for all. Great job, Auntie! I know he'll love it, but you must start making it part of the contract: payment for hat=picture.

Jo said...

Yay, Little E is back, I love his new hat!

Monique Liedtke said...

Love this!! You're so clever! I think my son would love this too!

Julie Kirk said...

You're like some super-hero on call to respond to fashion emergencies - is your Bat Signal a pair of needles and a ball of wool blazing across the night sky? x

alexa said...

What a wonderful Auntie you are :). And you have a very observant nephew with an eye for fine distinctions. I wonder what he'll do in the years to come!

Lizzy Hill said...

GREAT story...glad the lad is sorted....& that you've got onto the Pokémon thingy. We see them wandering past the public walk way in front of our place, heads down, phones stuck in their faces, chasing the dratted things which, I've been informed, have a tendency to head into the water....just to torment their chasers, I'm thinking!

helena said...

excellent understanding of whites. I still get requests like that from my nephews who are in their 20s - hurrah for crafting aunties ready to meet a request.

Missus Wookie said...

Oh what a nice auntie. Ewok had a Pokeman party for his 7th birthday.... has been around for a while that game!

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