Monday 22 October 2012

Equipping the next generation

Everybody tells me that they would love to knit, but they don't have time.
I look at people's lives and I can see opportunity and time for knitting all over the place.
The time spent riding the bus each day?  That's a pair of socks over a month.  
Waiting in line?  Mittens.  
Watching TV?  Buckets of wasted time that could be an exquisite lace shawl.  
~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee


Sunday afternoon saw me sitting on my bed knitting while Luca and Beni - also on my bed - had some quiet time watching a DVD while Max slept (lucky boy).

Out of the blue Luca asks me, "Mamma, can you teach me how to knit? I would like to make something cool for me!"

Well blow me down and call me Judy.
I never thought the day would come when one of my sons would be interested in knitting. But for the past 10 minutes I had observed him from the corner of my eye starting to become quite fixated on what I was creating with the clickety-clack of my knitting needles.

Of course I immediately jumped on this opportunity and said "Of course Luca! I would love to teach you how to knit! What would you like to make?"

Next thing: flick flick flick go the pages of a knitting pattern book I had on hand and he stops at a picture of a scarf.
"I will make this one Mamma" he says super confidently.

Next thing I know he's on the ground doing some stretches.


"What are you doing Luca?" I ask, amazed at this quick change in direction from reading a patterns book to doing lunges.
"I'm doing stretches Mamma" he says, matter-of-factly. "You need to do good stretches before you do knitting".
Oh. I did not realise this.
All these years I've been knitting and failing to do my stretches beforehand....

And so, stretches completed, we both excitedly sit down side-by-side on my bed to learn the basics of knitting.
I was super excited about teaching him the art of knitting. An art which was passed down from my nana to my mum to me, and now to my 5 year old son!
I was feeling a very proud mamma.


Luca is the kind of boy who can put his hand to anything and it turns out well.
He's got an intelligent (and annoyingly quick) brain in that beautiful head of his.
He listened intently to my instructions and watched my every move, his hands itching to do it himself. He completed 2 rows before he got bored of it and ran off to play with his cars.

But, upon leaving, he did ask me to put his knitting somewhere safe so he can come back and finish it later.

What a very cool little interlude in my day that was!
It doesn't happen every day that my son asks me to show him how to knit...


Really, all you need to become a good knitter are wool, needles, hands, and slightly below-average intelligence.  
Of course, superior intelligence, such as yours and mine, is an advantage.  
~Elizabeth Zimmerman

A knitter only appears to be knitting yarn. 
Also being knitted are winks, mischief, sighs, fragrant possibilities, wild dreams. 
~Dr. SunWolf

:::

10 comments:

  1. Oh I love this so much - tear running down my cheek ...
    Darling Luca xxxxx

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  2. TWO ROWS. That's more of a concentration span than me, sheesh.
    That boy never ceases to completely amaze me! Love him, and his stretches.
    xxx

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  3. I love little brains!!! Knitting stretches, if only I had known about them I could of avoided all those knitting injuries I've had over the years. Okay so I'm only talking about sore fingers and aching shoulders/neck, but maybe if I had done my lunges first...

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  4. oh wow, amazing little guy! I had to buy 'Knitting for Dummies' to get my head around it and that still didn't work :) Looking forward to seeing the end result one day :)

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  5. Haha, that is AWESOME!! Go Luca!!

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  6. Love love love this! Little people and their beautiful brains NEVER cease to amaze me! I so loved the knitting stretches too! But do you know what I love the most, is that you actually took the time to stop and teach him how to knit!! So many parents would of brushed him off, saying that he is too young or thought that it was too much work to teach him. GOOD ON YOU I SAY! More parents need to be like you! xxx

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  7. I will see if I can send a comment now. Not able to earlier?
    So loved this post,and agree with your Mum, (Tears) Dear, Most Clever Luca. Have tried to teach Sarah's girls. Livvy is soldiering on, but they both have their efforts put away for the next try. I guess it will be a lost art, if we don't persevere!!XXXX Caroline

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  8. So precious :-) Love the stretches beforehand too, hilarious but so logical really! Anything to which we need to apply ourselves too we should mentally and physically prepare for, he had just the right idea xx

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