the circle continues

Bear has been desperate to learn to knit for a month or so now. So with Boy2 back at preschool, and a bonus day holiday thanks to a pupil free day (bless you, new national curriculum), we hit up the craft shop, found some chunky yarn and bamboo needles, and merrily tucked ourselves up on the daybed, to get down to the serious business of knitting.

I’ve pinned a couple of tutorials on teaching kids to crochet, but for the knitting, I decided to wing it. I first learnt to knit around the same age, so I figured if 6 year old me could grasp it without the interwebs, it was almost certain this cluey young chap could get a handle on it.

He decided to start off making a scarf for himself. Daddy had requested a jumper, but he was told not to hold his breath. I did the cast on, so as not to confuse him too much – once he gets the hang of knit stitch, it’ll be easy enough to teach the cast on. I just kept going until it looked roughly wide enough, and then the lesson began. He sat beside me as we worked the first row. Through. Around, Back, Off. Every stitch we’d chant together. I worked the first two stitches of the new row, and then sat him on my lap, my hands over his, and we started reciting the steps again. Then a few stitches later I dropped one hand, and soon the other.

And now? It might be messy. There are some skipped stitches, and other stitches where the old stitch made it’s way in amongst the new stitches. The tension is kind of ordinary. But I think this might be the most adorable knitted scarf I have ever seen. I can’t wait for him to finish and see the look on his face as he wraps himself in his very own scarf for the first time.

And of course, we all know what Boy2 thinks of his big brother learning to knit, don’t we? Guess what I’m doing today? Yeah….