My 10 year old son loves to
knit.Today was his 4th grade class picnic, an annual event that occurs rain or shine. Today it rained, so I packed up a bag of some old Boye needles, acrylic yarn from who-knows-when and headed off to school. I'm the class mom, but I fortunately didn't have to deliver the pizza. I bought the soda (begrudgingly - we don't drink the stuff here and we don't really think any kids should) and arrived after the pizza and soda had been consumed, and at around the time when some of the students seemed tired of "Uno Attack" and Kinnex. When I asked if anyone wanted to learn how to knit, a few boys jumped up, followed by a few more, and then more! At this point, I was long out of needles, so I told them to grab pencils. They each picked a yarn and off they went, casting on and doing a few garter stitch rows. While some didn't get too far, others attacked it with abandon. "Mrs. C!" I heard, over and over. "I need help!", said some. "Come look at how I'm doing!" said others. By the thick of it, there were a group of about 12 boys, scattered around the classroom focused on their knitting. Only one girl came by, and my son showed her how to knit. She was concerned though that once she learned knitting she might forget how to crochet...
All the students were all so proud, showing me their work, complete with loops and wonkiness. In the midst of the learning, a boy sat quietly with his needles and yarn, and when I looked over at him, he was knitting Continental. But I had shown them all English! He said he had learned from his grandma. He also told me he prefers the long-tail cast-on method. He'll probably be knitting a sweater before long!
I hope that some of these boys take this new hobby and practice it over the summer. I told them about how it makes me happy and keeps me calm. I offered them the idea that they should try it in the mornings after they've gotten ready for school and are waiting for the bus or car. Who knows, maybe more boys will knit, and in another 10 years we'll have more men knitters. Then maybe we won't have war. The politicians can knit instead of argue.
I got a present from the teacher for being a class mom. She goes out of her way to find out what we like. She nailed it! Here it is.
Serendipity,
Rubber Soul, and
Inky Antics rubber stamps. Did I mention the teacher is a knitter too? I can only hope my son's 5th grade teacher knits too!