The girls and I began learning to knit a few months ago. I took my first knitting lesson in May last year at our local yarn store and then promptly let a good five months pass before picking it up again. In October 2014, we revisited our desire to learn to knit together. The girls took their first knitting lesson and I took a refresher class. From there, we started knitting regularly, attending weekly classes once a week,as our schedule allowed and knitting several times a week as part of our homeschool curriculum.
I wish there was a way to fully convey in written words how much joy finally taking the plunge and learning this life skill has given us; has given my daughters, has given me as a mother.
In 12 short weeks, my Charlotte who is eight years old, has went from learning to cast on…
To someone who has made a headband, a beautiful purple scarf, and a lovely white cowl. Here she is…modeling all of them at the same time (with immense pride). Her joy is my joy. I am so happy for her. She has truly found something she loves….knitting.
Audrey, my ten year old, has made fingerless gloves, a scarf and a water bottle holder. Her current project is a bath toy for her littlest sister. Here she is modeling her fingerless gloves.
This is the scarf she has been making. It is almost finished. She just has to bind off.
I decided to start a scarf myself; my first “real” project. I decided to do this one using solely the knit stitch (instead of alternating knit/purl every so many rows) so I can really achieve some muscle memory. I love the pastels of this yarn and am enjoying the soothing rhythmic movements that knitting provides. I have a tendency to make my stitches way to loose; something I need to work on.
We are all very beginner knitters. We haven’t that many skills in our skill set yet. We can tell when we have made a mistake, but often have to wait till we go back to the yarn store the following week to have help fixing it. As we are only three months into our knitting journey, our stitches are far from perfect or even. But we are loving learning and knitting together. We are enjoying the process. We pick out our yarn, cast on, start those new beginner projects, and dream of when our skills grow proficient enough to make things like socks, shrugs, and sweaters.
Thanks for sharing in our journey and if you are a beginning knitter too, do share your journey with us in the comments! If you are an experienced knitter, I would love to read your tips.
Happy knitting,
Wow, what beautiful projects! Your daughter must be so proud of herself!
So far we’ve only managed small squares and rectangles to sew into bean bags. We’ve been taking the “thick yarn & big needles” approach until my mum gets here in May and shows us some of her mad knitting skills.