Teaching Children

[Nurse Ratched]

My 9 year-old niece has expressed an interest in learning to knit. I know from
other endavors that she is smart and has good fine motor skills, which should
help smooth the way.

My grandmother taught me to knit, crochet, and embroider 40+ years ago. I no
longer remember what she said or did to help me learn to coordinate two
different hands, a couple of needles, and some yarn, nor can I remember what it
feels like not to know how.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me?
Nurse Ratched (remove "cuckoo" from address to reply)
We'll all get back to normal if we put our nation first,
But the trouble with "normal" is, it always gets worse. ~Bruce Cockburn

[Nurse Ratched]

>Er, once she's got KNIT down you can move on to purl. Damn, I need to
>proofread my stuff more often!

A mind is a terrible thing...... to.....
something. I can't remember.
Nurse Ratched (remove "cuckoo" from address to reply)
We'll all get back to normal if we put our nation first,
But the trouble with "normal" is, it always gets worse. ~Bruce Cockburn

[AGRES]

A Knitting Fairy! That explains a great deal.

I read that knitting is a regular school subject in places like Iceland. Do
they have textbooks on knitting? Has anyone seen them?

Aaron


"SlinkyToy" > wrote in message
. ..
> My son is 5-1/2yo. I taught him to knit a few months ago. Start with
short
> needles of about size 8, and some worsted-weight yarn in a color the girl
> likes. Cast on 15 stitches and knit a few rows so she's got something to
> start with. Put her in your lap and let her watch as you slowly knit a
> couple of rows. Then have her hold the needles and yarn and help her knit
a
> few rows. Then, ask if she's ready to try it herself.
>
> Once your DN has purl down pat - shouldn't take long, a 9yo's fine motor
> skills are better than a 5yo's - you can move on to purl. No idea what to
> tell you about teaching her to cast on or when. I guess you'll know when
> the time is right :)
>
> My son goes gangbusters now, both knit and purl. The Knitting Fairy
> corrects any errors while he's asleep, so his 15-stitch "scarf" is growing
> by leaps and bounds. I believe he intends to give it to his grandpa (my
> FIL) for Christmas *laugh*
>
> "Nurse Ratched" > wrote in message
> ...
> > My 9 year-old niece has expressed an interest in learning to knit. I
know
> from
> > other endavors that she is smart and has good fine motor skills, which
> should
> > help smooth the way.
> >
> > My grandmother taught me to knit, crochet, and embroider 40+ years ago.
I
> no
> > longer remember what she said or did to help me learn to coordinate two
> > different hands, a couple of needles, and some yarn, nor can I remember
> what it
> > feels like not to know how.
> >
> > Does anyone have any suggestions for me?
> > Nurse Ratched (remove "cuckoo" from address to reply)
> > We'll all get back to normal if we put our nation first,
> > But the trouble with "normal" is, it always gets worse. ~Bruce Cockburn
>
>

[Melinda]

>My 9 year-old niece has expressed an interest in learning to knit. I know
>from
>other endavors that she is smart and has good fine motor skills, which should
>help smooth the way.
>
>My grandmother taught me to knit, crochet, and embroider 40+ years ago. I no
>longer remember what she said or did to help me learn to coordinate two
>different hands, a couple of needles, and some yarn, nor can I remember what
>it
>feels like not to know how.
>
>Does anyone have any suggestions for me?
>Nurse Ratched (remove "cuckoo" from address to reply)

I'm running a wee bit late, but here goes...

Check with your local knitting shop, most of them have beginners classes and a
child should be no problem - at least it's not in the shop I work in.

Melinda
Solstice Moon Designs

[Sew-Sew Lady]

The Feb '03 Martha Stewart Living had nice instructions & photos for knitted
cast on that my 10yo did very well with. She started to chicken out and
begged for help, but I use one-needle casting on, and I told her that I
wanted to see how that knitted cast on worked also, because it's better I
think than mis-guessing how much yarn you needed to do the other cast on.
So....she persevered and was thrilled to show me how to do it within just a
few minutes. She got the bonus of learning TWO great skills at once, as she
had been knitting all along while casting on and was immediately ready to
start the first row without learning anything new!
I bet if you went to the website, you could find their instructions
somewhere...they're pretty good at keeping all that stuff.
www.marthastewart.com




"Nurse Ratched" > wrote in message
...
> My 9 year-old niece has expressed an interest in learning to knit. I know
from
> other endavors that she is smart and has good fine motor skills, which
should
> help smooth the way.
>
> My grandmother taught me to knit, crochet, and embroider 40+ years ago. I
no
> longer remember what she said or did to help me learn to coordinate two
> different hands, a couple of needles, and some yarn, nor can I remember
what it
> feels like not to know how.
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions for me?
> Nurse Ratched (remove "cuckoo" from address to reply)
> We'll all get back to normal if we put our nation first,
> But the trouble with "normal" is, it always gets worse. ~Bruce Cockburn
>