Knitting with kids

I went to Elaine's school today to help teach a knitting group. This is a fun Thursday enrichment program at the school, with dozens of choices: some kids do science, some do cartooning, some do physical games, some do knitting.

One of the kids asked me how long I had been knitting, and I can't really remember learning! I don't remember making really tight, scrunched-up tangles, and I don't remember wrapping the yarn twice, or somehow putting the left-hand needle's stitch onto the right-hand needle, along with the new stitch.

One boy would do four or five fine stitches, and then end up doubling a bunch more, before he came to me for "help." For some "help" means "do this for me," and for some it seems to mean, "Tell me exactly how to make this perfect, but don't touch my needles." It doesn't often seem to mean, "I will watch closely and copy what you do, paying attention to what you say to me."

The teacher had told them to slip the last stitch of the row, and might have mentioned that they should put the yarn to the front before they do that. One girl found she had way too many stitches, and she had been making a nice little yarnover before slipping her last stitch. So, a pretty line of eyelets and a gently sloping piece of knitting! She then quickly learned k2tog and got back to her original stitch count!

I will go again next week, even though it interferes with my weekly Scrabble game! Maybe I can take pictures of their hands and knitting for you.