The Knitters Thread

Hi all, May I barge into your thread please? I don't know why I've never got involved before because I have been an enthusiastic knitter for 70 years, starting off with knitting dishcloths for mother and grandmother. I still can't really relax unless my fingers are busy. My friend tells me that I'm the only person she knows who can read and knit, watch T V and knit and in both cases have a cryptic crossword going on at the same time. I guess it's being of the generation for which the devil found mischief for idle hands.

Anyway, I now have a query. My granddaughter, aged 4, is desperate to learn to knit. Now I have been bitten by this before, trying to teach small children at school to knit. I don't suppose it is part of the curriculum these days. If it ever was! It scarred me for ever. However, I'm about to cave in, against my better judgement. To add to the mix she is left handed.

I was wondering if the continental style of knitting would be easier for her. It's something that I've never done so I would have to learn first - YouTube, I guess.

Does anyone have any advice please?

monnagran wrote: »

Hi all, May I barge into your thread please? I don't know why I've never got involved before because I have been an enthusiastic knitter for 70 years, starting off with knitting dishcloths for mother and grandmother. I still can't really relax unless my fingers are busy. My friend tells me that I'm the only person she knows who can read and knit, watch T V and knit and in both cases have a cryptic crossword going on at the same time. I guess it's being of the generation for which the devil found mischief for idle hands.

Anyway, I now have a query. My granddaughter, aged 4, is desperate to learn to knit. Now I have been bitten by this before, trying to teach small children at school to knit. I don't suppose it is part of the curriculum these days. If it ever was! It scarred me for ever. However, I'm about to cave in, against my better judgement. To add to the mix she is left handed.

I was wondering if the continental style of knitting would be easier for her. It's something that I've never done so I would have to learn first - YouTube, I guess.

Does anyone have any advice please?

Hi Monaghan, welcome to the thread.

While I have never taught a child to knit, I am left handed. I learned to knit right handed and, frankly, I don't see why your granddaughter can't learn to knit right handed. Knitting doesn't require fine motor movement, unlike writing, and it's a good thing, developmentally, to learn to do some tasks with your wrong hand. Yes, it will feel odd but it is an entirely new skill, so it's bound to be difficult and feel odd regardless of which style you use. Note: if she tucks her right thumb under the needle like a pen, it will be much easier to control and harder to drop. (Look up "Australian style knitting" on YouTube.)

There are at least three different styles of Continental knitting. I find it harder to purl when doing Continental but that may be just me. (I can't keep a rhythm.)

Thank you for your help. I really think that she is a bit too young but she is so keen that I don't like to put her off.

nursemaggie, the mirror idea is inspired but I think it might confuse me! At the moment I can guide her fingers but if I am trying to guide them back to front for me I think we would both end up frustrated.

PipneyJane, Thanks for the tucking the thumb under tip. We will try that. She is not too advanced with her fine motor control so knitting can only help. Now if it was talking! Or drama............we are speaking of genius level.

Oh Anakat, how well I remember banging pins into a cotton reel and making yards and yards of woolly tubing. In the absence of wooden cotton reels I believe that they now produce plastic replicas. I'll look out for one, she might find that fun.

The problem with the comtinental knitting is that she wants to knit "just like Monna." After a long lifetime of knitting I'm not sure that I can adapt to a different method.

I'm not too sure why my last post decided to repeat itself 5 minutes after I had submitted it. Let's hope you don't get a double dose of this one.

I know what you mean Thirzah. My little Pickle appeared in my doorway on her way to bed and announced that she would like to wear a long, pink princess dress to nursery the next day and would I please knit one. I said that it might be difficult to get a long princess dress finished in time.
She thought for a moment and then said kindly, "All right. Just a pair of shoes then."

Monna, thy name is Rapunzal.