Teaching Time

The first time I taught someone to knit it ended in tears.  That's not an exaggeration or a lie.  My godson and his twin sister came to visit me for a weekend when I was living in GB.  We did fun GB things like Bay Beach and the NEW zoo.  It was a great time, and on the morning before they left the sister asked me to teach her to knit. I had been knitting while they were video gaming making something I can't remember and enjoying it.  I grabbed a pair of needles and some yarn.  I cast on 20 stitches, and showed her how to move them from one needle to the next.  As a young type A, she expected for it to be easy and got easily frustrated.  Made some disparaging comments and when I told her it was ok and she was doing good.  But she didn't believe it and we ended with tears.

Now I realize that she was a little too young to learn, on the boarder but still not ready yet.  I did send her a crochet kit a year later for her birthday along with a note saying how I felt crochet was a little easier and was what I started with.  She took to it like water.  She made a blanket for our mutual cousin's new baby.  :-D

Since then I have taught 4 people to knit and one to crochet.  I think I've improved my teaching skills a little.  Being upfront that it's not hard, but is tricky at first I think is key.  Having an enthusiastic student is also a great help.  Good tools is helpful too.

Last two was at charity knitting at one knitter came in followed by two non-knitters who wanted to learn.  With the all staffers busy, I jumped in to teach them.  It looked like a mother-daughter team of new knitters.  And I sat next to one, taught the knit cast on, and then I moved over to the mother and showed her.  The knitter who convinced them to come in hadn't done a knitted cast on before and wanted to learn too.  I will say that it was so cool to see how two brand new knitters knit differently.  Both knit English, but one propped her left hand needle against her stomach so it was perpendicular to her and worked only the right needle.  It was so fun!  :-D

Needles news:  I started the Progressive Needles KAL last night.  It was quick and the K1B stitch was easy to create but difficult to read.  That is to say, when trying to read my K1B stitches it was hard to figure out.  Yikes!  It will take a few more projects to get it down.

I also started a halloween costume, more to come...