K is for Komatsu
The temperature that January day in Vermont matched the temperature today. You can see the steamy mists eddying around the Beast. The color scheme demanded a picture. I see semi-red, definitely white, and somewhat blue. Okay. Periwinkle. Close enough.
The company shipped in these colors several years ago. It was not popular, and has been replaced with more manly hues.
With a sense of future destiny, I taught my niece to knit today. She is 5 years old.
I taught a 5 year old to knit a few years ago and it's not easy. I admire your patience and hope the fruits of your labor pay off and she knits something fabulous for YOU some day!
Posted by: Carole | Friday, July 04, 2008 at 04:15 PM
Wow. The nine-year-old here is still making me knit while she sits in my lap and holds it...
Go, you!
Posted by: Lee Ann | Friday, July 04, 2008 at 08:48 PM
Teaching the six-year old grandson to knit is on the agenda for Grandma's Arts and Crafts Camp later this month! Who drove one of those beasts last year, by the way!
Posted by: Marcia | Friday, July 04, 2008 at 09:22 PM
I saw one of those Komatsus a few years back outside of Morgantown, WV, that was a bright Barbie pink. I called it the Malibu Dream Backhoe and then regretted not photographing it.
Posted by: Mel | Friday, July 04, 2008 at 10:22 PM
HA! After all that! Good for you! Your SIL should be thanking you! Now your niece can harness some of that energy into knitting. Now to teach the younger sibling and you'll be all set :-)
Love the periwinkle!
Posted by: Manise | Saturday, July 05, 2008 at 12:20 AM
It does make a change from sunshine yellow doesn't it?
Posted by: Caroline M | Saturday, July 05, 2008 at 01:55 AM
We need more manly machinery to be in grrly colors. Here's to a future knitter!!
Posted by: margene | Saturday, July 05, 2008 at 08:21 AM
46 here this morning. just sayin'
Posted by: Judy | Saturday, July 05, 2008 at 08:31 AM
How did your niece do? My 6 year old niece thinks that she likes to knit, but she really likes to do 4 or 5 stitches, and then let someone else finish the row for her!
Posted by: Danielle | Saturday, July 05, 2008 at 09:28 AM
Do you have any idea what that blue ox cost! Whew. The tracks are a pain, though, because you can't run them legally on paved roads.
I think of age 5 as the Age of Self-Doubt. It's easier to teach them when they're 3, then re-teach at 7 or even 9. She might still be before the AoSD, in which case she'll cruise, or she might need what seems to be an unreasonable amount of reassurance but really does make sense in the context of budding analytical thought. It's a fascinating time in the life of a girl!
Posted by: Sylvia | Saturday, July 05, 2008 at 03:32 PM
too bad the color wasn't a keeper - I love it.
and hey - way-to-go maintaining the continued history of knitting as you taught a 5 year old. I'll bet that she's knitting circles around the rest of us within a year or two!
Posted by: Teyani | Saturday, July 05, 2008 at 11:44 PM
I am impressed! Miss B wasn't ready at 5; she learned at 7 by taking a before-school class taught by one of the teachers at her school. I think knitting is like driving: it's usually best if you're taught by someone you don't live with.
I am knitting a hat in that exact color.
Posted by: Lucia | Monday, July 07, 2008 at 12:44 PM