When is a child old enough to learn to knit? I've tried a few times and
my five and a half year old daughter, Maya, has finally taken to it! We
started on some scrap yarn but it just wasn't right. I wanted bigger
needles and thicker yarn so she would see the progress to keep her
motivated. We went to Loop in Philly, one of the shops I frequented when
we lived there. I used to take Maya there when she was a baby and, to
my surprise, they remembered us! I just love local yarn shops...
Maya
and I had fun on our mother daughter date to choose her supplies. I figure
that I should get her hooked on the good stuff, she will get super into
knitting and then we can get some cheaper stuff to supplement. She chose
a chunky, thick and thin variegated yarn, Malabrigo Aquarella in the colorway Paysandu, which is beautiful pinks and purples. She got some
Crystal Palace bamboo needles in size 11 and she also chose a cute
project bag, I'm a sucker for knitting supplies!
If my husband and two year old weren't waiting for us we might have
purchased more...
We got started that night. She sat on my lap
and I cast on ten stitches. She watched me do a few stitches, we did a
few with her hands on mine and then I watched and coached her while she
finished the row. She did amazing for a beginner! It was so hard to let
her make mistakes because I knew how to fix them but she really seemed
to get it. We are now trying to knit together when we have down time and
she has dubbed it her "favorite thing". She even brought it in for show
and tell!
