Monday, August 15, 2011

A New Knitter

Saturday I went to the reunion of my Dad's side of the family. I don't know how your family reunions go, but ours involve a large crowd of relatives, (usually) hot weather, and TONS of delicious food! There are plenty of good cooks in the family, and it always shows at a reunion.

Ever since I started knitting I carry a project bag to the reunion. I don't play the outdoor games at the reunion because it's too dang hot, and the indoor games are usually cake walks or bingo which are more fun to watch than to actually do. So I knit and visit with relatives.

By Saturday afternoon the heat had taken a toll on several of the kids who'd been playing outdoors. At that time I was sitting on the porch of the Ruritan building where we were having the gathering, knitting some dishcloths I'd been working on for Christmas gifts.

A very polite young girl named Cara (or Kara, I'm not sure how she spells it) who turned out to be related to me by marriage through a second cousin came and sat on the bench beside me and began asking questions about what I was doing. I spent the next few minutes giving her a very broad overview of knitting: "just making loops of this cotton yarn with these metal needles". When I saw that she was really paying attention, I handed her the dishcloth I was knitting and taught her a knit stitch. She picked it up quickly, and I showed her a purl stitch. It was such fun to watch her face light up when she saw that she was actually KNITTING! Now I know why teachers enjoy their work when they have attentive students.

When the time came for her to get ready to leave, I bound off the triangle of knitted material she'd been working with and gave it to her for a souvenir. Her mother came to thank me for teaching her, and I told her in all honesty that it had been as much fun for me as it had for her.

A good Saturday!

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