KNITSTER

Well, while I am far from a total beginner, but equally farther from being an advanced, or even advanced intermediate knitter (I’d put myself in the advanced beginner/early intermediate level), I attempted to teach my mother in law how to knit today. Now, I had two things working against me. First, the one I always have, which is language barrier. That wasn’t as much of a problem as usual. Second, and more importantly, she’s left-handed. Not that there’s anything wrong with being left handed, but I’m right handed, and as much as I tried, I could not get my hands to reverse how to do a basic Continental knit stitch like she would have to do it. I tried to convince her to do it my way, since the Continental method is considered doing it “left handed” but it didn’t feel right to her. But then again, switching hands for me didn’t feel right, although I was getting the stitch done the right way, but very awkwardly. I just kept showing her the method, and talking her through as best as I could. I showed her on her needles, which were a pair of cheap bamboo ones I had picked up at Target last week. They need sanding big time, if you ask me, and I offered to let her try my plastic ones instead and she declined. Then, when I found in my Vogue Ultimate Knitting Guide pictures of how to do it left-handed (the correct way), I offered to lend her the book so she could look at it, and she declined again. Grrrr. I’m trying to be nice to the woman, and help her, but I didn’t get frustrated with her. I thought the whole time I was being pretty nice and pretty patient with her, and supportive of her efforts in trying. She definitely respects the craft more than usual, and she’s not frustrated yet, as far as I know. I just kept showing her push (the needle under the front leg towards the back), pull (the yarn from the ball from the top and over the strand to pull it through), and pop (the stitch off the main needle, not the working needle). I showed her where she was making a hole with the initial push in order to pull the yarn through. She was doing all sorts of weird twisting stuff with it, and I think that was messing it up. I was also trying to show her the difference in identifying a knit stitch with a purl stitch (the noose vs. scarf thing on the stitch), and showing her what the knit stitch looked like a little but purling on my side, but it looks like knitting from her side. She was starting to get it a little, so she went home to practice after a brief 15 minute lesson. Oh well. I hope she’s not discouraged, and I told her that if she can get the hang of this, then purling will be easy, and the rest of the basics will come more easily too.

Here’s hoping that I haven’t scared off my first “student”, and that her success is better than how my business has been going with recruits!

Posted on September 21st, 2005 by Dani
Filed under: General