Knitting is alive and well
If the girls in the primary school knitting class are any indication, then the future of knitting is alive and well and in good hands I’d say!
On Wednesday afternoons, for the last year or so, I have been teaching primary-school girls to knit. Well…..I say I’ve been teaching, but in reality, I think I’m just superfluous adult supervision!
Here’s Muireann, our youngest. Even at 7 years old, she keeps working at it. My greatest joy is to hear her say, ‘Look, I think I’m getting it now!’
So much for doing simple scarves, these girls want to do felted handbags (yes, actually it’s fulling, I realise). Here’s Fionnuala’s brightly coloured bag at the final sewing-up-pre-wash-stage. Have to remind them that the bags will look like hideous 80s jumpers. Oh right…..these girls wouldn’t remember the 80s now, would they?
Love the creativity of these girls! Here’s Tess, who is quite a natural. Lovely tension and style sense. Can’t wait to see what her finished felted bag will look like.
Since I didn’t knit as a girl, I am constantly amazed at the fearlessness of young girls to try something. Here’s Sara’s individualized pattern for her bag. Decided to turn it sideways for a cool vertical striping.
So, could you knit lace when you were 11 years old? Julia can! I have absolutely no idea how she does it or what her stitch is, but she quietly slips yarn around needle for a nice lace-type pattern. Kudos to her granny who takes the time to teach her!
And finally, comes Sadhbh-The-Prodigy, which is pronounced ‘Sive’ in case you were wondering. (Love Irish names but I’ll not divert at this point…) I’m tellin’ ya, this girl plows ahead without fear or trepidation of any stitch. Yep, can you see the entrelac she’s working on? And I’m of absolutely no use to her as I’ve never even attempted entrelac! But truth is, she doesn’t need me as long as there’s a book to follow…
So, there you have it….amazing girls every one. They keep me on my toes, I must say. For the final couple of classes this term I decided I would really stick them with a challenge. I showed them brown and green yarn, a piece of paper and told them that we were going to come up with our own pattern for a simple Christmas tree ornament during our next class. Honestly, they didn’t even blink and said collectively, ‘Can I have the yarn now and do it this week to show you at the next class?’
I’m gob-smacked.