Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Passing It On

When I prayed this morning that the Lord would help me to show patience and grace to my children, I had no idea that my daughter was going to ask me to teach her to knit ... but He did!  My very eager six year-old wanted to make a blanket for her princess doll, and has always been curious about knitting since she sees me clacking away all the time.

Upon my agreement to teach her, she carefully chose a brilliant red worsted yarn from my stash and I decided to start her with size 10 needles since they were easy for her little hands to handle.  Casting on was a challenge for her at first, especially since she was so eager to do it all by herself.  But with a great deal of restraint and patience on my part, she cast on 20 stitches and felt a great sense of accomplishment!

 Every knitter must develop their own technique.  My daughter's method for casting on includes sticking out the tongue and holding the needles in the most bizarre way.  Hey, whatever works!

Next came the fun part: knitting!  I taught her the knit stitch with a simple poem to help her know the steps.

Under the fence
Catch the sheep
Back we go
Off we leap

It's amazing how this little rhyme was so effective in helping her.  With just a few minor disruptions she knit one row by herself.


And now she says she is too tired to do another row.  Perhaps we'll pick up this little project tomorrow ... after she has had an entire day to rest.

2 comments:

heather said...

How exciting to share your love of knitting with your daughter! And God is good to grant us the patience we often need as parents!

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

Precious, precious photos! I've been thinking about digging my own knitting needles out of hiding and giving it another go. Her determination challenges me.