Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 403
Problem Solving
Hello Everyone
Have you ever had a really knotty problem that you needed to find an answer to?
Well, here today, on the Salty Sam Blog l have some tips to help you out.
These are good things to learn at an early age…
Everyone is faced with challenges at some time or another.
The first thing to do is always remain calm. Your brain thinks more easily when it is a calm state.
Take a breath in and take a step back, explain the situation to yourself in a very rational way.
Go for a long walk or sit somewhere calm and peaceful outside.
You may need up to half an hour to sit quietly. Sometimes it is better to think without distractions.
Sometimes it is better to stop thinking about the problem because your brain is just getting tied in knots – solutions will ping into your brain from seemingly nowhere. You can sleep on your problems sometimes and wake up with solutions. This is called dream incubation.
The sewing machine needle was invented by using this method.
Removing yourself from the place where the problem is, can often put things into a better perspective.
Sometimes a failure can create a new opportunity sometimes there is a lesson to learn that can move you forward. You just need to see it.
You need to think about your capabilities and how you have tackled problems in the past – so you have had some experience. This gives you more confidence in tackling new problems.
Sometimes far of failure is worse that failure – if you fail, you can move beyond it and try again. You may have to readjust your strategy next time.
Purposeful action is much better than just worrying.
lt is also important to explain to others what your problem is and how you think you want it resolved. People don’t like moaners, they like problem solvers. Problem-solvers get on in life.
Don’t just complain about what is; be clear on what you really do want.
Ask for help.
Think ahead. lf you plan any project, trip or event properly you can avoid problems before they crop up.
Plan what you need to buy, pack, prepare, know and do. Use ‘to do’ lists to help you do that. Keep a notepad by you. Loose bits of paper are more easily lost.
The more you practise this kind of behaviour, the more you will get good at it.
Sometimes the smallest of steps forward is still going forward. They are all valuable.
You can correct your course along the way.
Write the problem down and then write the solution – this works more easily than you might think.
Use your intuition, learn to trust it, don’t be afraid to let it guide you to take action. The more you mature, the better you will be at taking responsibility for your own life.
A lot of people try something once and when it doesn’t work out, they think that what they have tried is unworkable – but this may not be true; because at a different time, with different people, under different circumstances everything might have a very different outcome.
lf at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.
Learn from your mistakes and readjust your efforts.
You must give things a fair trial before you realize it is unworkable or not for you after all.
And sometimes things just sort themselves out and you had nothing to worry about after all.
lf you like my blog, please support it by telling all your friends and followers about it.
Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bob: What did the whale say when he accidentally got tangled up in the sea weed?
Bill: l don’t know. What did the whale say when he accidentally got tangled up in the sea weed?
Bob: Kelp! Kelp!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
The more you learn, the easier it is to find solutions to problems
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
If you are going to have a party this weekend with fireworks; please let the adults deal with them and just don’t touch them yourself.
Fireworks are not toys and are dangerous if played with.
But you might like to tell your friends some of these jokes instead for Guy Fawkes Night – our biggest celebration of when something never happened…
I gave my friend a huge rocket for his birthday. He is over the Moon!
I launched my own clothing line this week. I knew I shouldn’t have set a rocket off near the clothes line.
Where can you park your space craft? At a parking meteor!
How do you get a baby alien to sleep? You rocket
Where do astronauts keep their sandwiches? In a launch box
Why did Guy Fawkes fail in his task to ignite the gunpowder kegs?
Because he had no flare for it
Do you think that Elton John used to eat lettuce but then found out that he was more of a rocket man?
Where do wonky rockets go for help? A guidance counselor
What was Guy Fawkes’ favourite meal? Bangers and flash
Why was the daddy firework so patient with his children? He had a long fuse
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Quick Quiz
Can you fill in the gaps?
- 5 s _ _ d c _ _ _ _ _ _ s i _ a _ a _ _ _ e
- 4 l _ _ s o _ a c _ _ _ r
- 2 h _ _ _ s o _ a c _ _ _ k
- 3 p _ _ s o _ a _ e _ _ _ _ _ _ c
- 366 d _ _ s i _ a l _ _ p y _ _ r
- 6 c _ _ _ _ _ s o _ a h _ _ _ _ _ n
- 4 p _ _ _ _ s o _ a f _ _ k
- 11 p _ _ _ _ _ s i _ a f _ _ _ _ _ _ l t _ _ m
- 4 s _ _ _ _ _ s i _ a y _ _ r
lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE A WARM BABY JUMPER
Auntie Alice was making some baby jumpers this week.
They will be taken on the lorry we are organizing again to go abroad this winter. She is helping to pack shoe boxes up to be given as Christmas presents to orphans.
This jumper is really easy to make once you are beyond being a total knitting newbie.
If you have odds and ends of balls of dk yarn to use up, you can use the pattern in different ways to create different effects.
You could:-
Use a different colour for the ribbing
Put a stripe across the stomach on the front piece
Knit the arms and body in different colours
Knit the collar in a different colour from the jumper front
Knit the front a different colour from the sleeves and back
Knit the body ribbing and sleeves the same colour and the sleeve ribbing and the body the same colour
And so on…
In this way very jumper will have a different look.
Your will need 150g of yarn for this garment
If you want to knit this jumper for a baby you know, these are the actual measurements of the jumper…
The size is as follows:-
Chest 53cm
Length 25cm
Sleeve length 17cm
BABY JUMPER BACK (KNIT ONE)
Using 3½mm knitting needles and dk yarn cast on 62 stitches
(knit 2, purl 2) repeat the last 4 stitches to the last 2 stitches knit 2
(purl 2, knit 2) repeat the last 4 stitches to the last 2 stitches purl 2
Repeat the last 2 rows 5 times so that you have 12 rows of ribbing
Change to 4mm knitting needles
Knit 56 rows of stocking stitch
Cast off 21 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows
Cast of the remaining 21 stitches
BABY JUMPER SLEEVES (KNIT TWO)
Using 3½mm knitting needles and dk yarn cast on 34 stitches
(knit 2, purl 2) repeat the last 4 stitches to the last 2 stitches knit 2
(purl 2, knit 2) repeat the last 4 stitches to the last 2 stitches purl 2
Repeat the last 2 rows 4 times so that you have 10 rows of ribbing
Change to 4mm knitting needles
Continue knitting in stocking stitch
Increase 1 stitch at the beginning of the next 2 rows (36sts)
Increase 1 stitch at each end of the following 3rd row (38sts)
(5 rows stocking stitch)
Increase 1 stitch at each end of the following 4th row (40sts)
(9 rows stocking stitch)
Then increase at each end of every 4th row until you have 48 stitches on your needle
Knit 17 rows of stocking stitch
Starting on a knit row cast off 9 stitches
Then cast off 9 stitches at the beginning of the following 3 rows
Cast off the remaining 12 stitches
BABY JUMPER FRONT (KNIT ONE)
Using 3½mm knitting needles and dk yarn cast on 62 stitches
(knit 2, purl 2) repeat the last 4 stitches to the last 2 stitches knit 2
(purl 2, knit 2) repeat the last 4 stitches to the last 2 stitches purl 2
Repeat the last 2 rows 5 times so that you have 12 rows of ribbing
Change to 4mm knitting needles
Knit 34 rows of stocking stitch
Knit on 21 stitches only
Knit 22 rows of stocking stitch
Cast off the 21 stitches on the next knit row
Join the yarn on again to continue knitting on the stitches you have left
Cast off the centre 20 stitches
Knit 22 rows of stocking stitch
Cast off the 21 stitches on the next knit row
BABY JUMPER COLLAR (KNIT ONE)
Using 3½mm knitting needles and dk yarn cast on 85 stitches
Knit in moss stitch for 9cm (32 rows) as follows:-
Slip 1 (knit 1, purl 1) repeat to end
TIP
If having 85 stitches on your needle seems too much for you to handle, knit 2 pieces of 42 and join them together to create a back seam
When making up this jumper you should use over-sew stitching to sew together the ribbing but backstitch on the stocking stitch knitting – this is because it is a larger item of knitting than most of the projects on this blog.
TO MAKE UP
- Sew the 2 shoulder seams together to create a neck hole
- Sew the two ends of the collar to the bottom of the neck hole – twisting the piece of knitting and wrapping it over the way you want it to be for a girl or boy – see photograph
- Ease the base of the collar into place along the back and sides of the neck hole and pin into place before sewing on
- Sew the top of the sleeves to the shoulders
- And then the under arm and side seams
This is the first jumper pattern for a human on this blog, albeit a little one, so if you have successfully completed it, give yourself a big pat on the back!
It will give you a good idea how a jumper for a bigger person is knitted.
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
- 5 seed chambers in an apple
- 4 legs on a chair
- 2 hands on a clock
- 3 pins on an electric plug
- 366 days in a leap year
- 6 corners on a hexagon
- 4 prongs on a fork
- 11 players in a football team
- 4 seasons in a year
