Game On

I got word today that at least six young'uns have signed up for my little o' knitting class, so here we go...it's all too real now. I have to get serious. I have to plan. I have to buy supplies. I have to figure out what I'm doing so I can show them!

I think I'm going to start with finger knitting. It's a little more like crochet than knitting but it's yarn and loops so I figure it's a good introduction. I've been practicing. I made my daughter and her reluctant friend learn and I cornered a 9-year-old in the waiting room.

I think I've got the slip knot down - make a pond (loop the yarn into a circle) and then go fishing (for the yarn).

Then on to the finger knitting - still working on that explanation.

So that is either the first ten minutes or the first class. I really have no idea how fast (or slow) these kids will catch on. Then what? One seasoned instructor suggested casting on for them. Then once they learn to knit, it's easier to teach the knitted cast on.

I think a book mark to start - maybe knit the long way so they can have long rows. Then a small bag maybe? Pot holder? Head band? Oh my goodness, I'm actually going to have to make decisions about what someone else will knit? I have a hard enough time deciding what I should knit!

I also have to buy supplies. Needles, of course. Yarn, obviously. Needles? Pins? Ruler? Row Counter? What's absolutely essential?

This should be interesting...

Marine life

For those who are big on things small, Ravelry has a wee-sock exchange group. Every month, members are paired up to exchange tiny footwear and other goodies all in good fun. The theme for March was marine life. This is certain to spark some creative thinking since socks don't normallygo swimming, right? My partner certainly got creative with a mermaid sock, a seahorse and a starfish. Amazing what yarn can be turned into.

Instruction

I usually say I learned to knit a few years back when my little ones were littler. I rememered recently, however, that I really learned to knit when I was a youngster. There were some community classes offered at the local school. My parents took woodworking and I took knitting. I started but never finished a pair of mittens.

Still, maybe that early instruction set a pathway in my brain that made it easier when I took it up as an adult. So, I feel it's only fair to pay back. Which means that when I found out they couldn't find a kntting instructor for an after school program at my daughter's school I felt obliged to raise my hand.

Do I have enough patience? We'll see. First, we need to have at least six kids. If that doesn't happen, I'm off the hook. Not that I really want to be. I'm kind of excited about this. I did successfully teach Z to knit at age 7.

I think we'll start with finger knitting - it's essentially crochet without a hook. I decided today to experiment on my daughter and her friend. The slip knot was much harder for them to learn than I expected. The rest was a little bit trickier than I anticipated as well.

I will, however, have six weeks.

I'm now scouting for simple, quick patterns. Any suggestions are welcome.

Something is fishy

The theme for the Wee Sock exchange this month was marine life.

Initially, I was thinking about a mermaid sock with a flipper but it morphed into a tiny flipper sock. Very much fun to design on this scale - everything goes so quickly.

I am also going to take credit for the warm spell as of late. I just finally finished a pair of half mitts to match my cabled hat. I've been wanting to make these all year round, but just recently got to it! Now, we're ready for shorts, hah hah.

I keep telling the kids that they have to put their things away or the puppy will get it. Now, in my defense, this yarn was sort of put away - it was in a stuffed in a bin. Apparently, it's great fun to tip over the bin and pull out and then scatter the contents. DH says Purl just wishes she had thumbs so she could knit!
And the rest of this isn't Purl - it's me. We impulsively decided to renovate the office/studio. At first it was going to be just some paint, but it was going to be so much work to get the room ready for that, we decided to gut the room! At this point, most people would sort and then pack everything up. But it had taken us so long to get to this point, we were afraid we would change our minds if we didn't decisively launch into the project. I moved everything out of the room as fast as possible while Dh chiseled ugly green tiles off the walls putting us well past the point of no return.
This isn't the most organized way to become organized, but sometimes, you just have to take a leap. Already, I've sent all (yes I said all) of the knitting magazines to my daughter's school, where they have a knitting school. I've also packed up several bags of material and at least two unfinished projects for a charity pick up. These are things that have been in my closet for years and years. I feel some angst at sending them away being taught to always finish what you start. But I don't want them anymore. I'm not sure that I ever did. Sometimes I think I start things just to see if can do it and once I know I can, I lose interest. Of course, by this time I've usually invested beaucoup $$ and hours into the project. So it's tempting to just tuck it away for some day when I have hours and hours of extra time on my hands (as if that day will ever come). This time, however, I'm letting go of the guilt and the stuff to make way for new stuff and, hopefully, a wave of creativity.
I will keep my favorite yarn books and the good yarn that I've collected. I've come to the belief that yarn isn't just for knitting - it's for collecting too. It's good to be surrounded by wonderful yarn. I hope someday to find the right project for all of it, but in the meanwhile, I'll just enjoy the color and the texture and the potential it holds.