{"id":17750,"date":"2011-08-28T01:11:11","date_gmt":"2011-08-28T05:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/?p=17750"},"modified":"2014-12-20T02:28:17","modified_gmt":"2014-12-20T07:28:17","slug":"my-first-needle-artknitting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/28\/my-first-needle-artknitting\/","title":{"rendered":"My First Needle Art~Knitting"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"L<\/a><\/p>\n

I know this won’t be a popular post.\u00c2\u00a0 But knitting was the first needle art I was taught and now my granddaughter wants to learn. So it’s what is on my mind now.<\/p>\n

Most of us progress through many forms of needlework, ultimately focusing on a few with greater passion.\u00c2\u00a0 Seven year-old Laurel’s interest in sewing, quilting and now knitting gives me great hope that she will be knowledgeable and enthusiastic about a variety of needle arts.<\/p>\n

About two weeks ago, when Laurel announced that she would like to learn to knit, she also confided that she thinks those ladies on tv who bang their knitting needles together are probably not<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0 knitting.\u00c2\u00a0 “Show me how, Nana.”<\/p>\n

I silently groaned, having recently donated my complete collection of knitting needles–all sizes, all length–as well as a few bushel baskets of yarn.\u00c2\u00a0 But not wanting to lose the moment, I pulled out a little\u00c2\u00a0 “craft” learn-to-crochet kit that included about 10′ of nasty red yarn.\u00c2\u00a0 With some rummaging I found\u00c2\u00a0 a set of size 7 circular needles that missed the clean sweep of\u00c2\u00a0 no-eyed needles.\u00c2\u00a0 And so we began….<\/p>\n

It did not go well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After about 15 minutes of yarn splitting, stitch dropping and white-knuckle needle gripping, she looked up at me with those big hazel eyes and said, “This is a lot harder than it looks, Nana.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe that’s why they just clank the needles together on tv.”\u00c2\u00a0 I insisted that we put it away and try this another day.<\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, I went to JoAnn’s (there is no longer a knit shop in town) and purchased a pair of size 15 needles and some kid-friendly bulky variegated yarn.<\/p>\n

Friday, with the day’s homeschool lessons well done, Robert was rewarded with\u00c2\u00a0 computer time at Brainpopjr.com while Laurel and I retired to the back porch where she got her first successful knitting lesson.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The new supplies paid off, as she took to knitting like a duck to water.\u00c2\u00a0 The bright yarn made her grin as she accepted my suggestion to make a scarf for her AG doll Molly, who had come to school with her that day.\u00c2\u00a0 She gushed, “Oh, Nana, I think she will love it!”\u00c2\u00a0 I could squeeze this kid.<\/p>\n

Shorter needles would have been nice, but the selection is slim at JoAnn’s.\u00c2\u00a0 With these pool cues she could stand in front of a roaring bonfire, roast a marshmallow\u00c2\u00a0 and never get singed.\u00c2\u00a0 But she managed.<\/p>\n

By the time my son and DIL came to pick up the children, Laurel had finished 9 rows.\u00c2\u00a0 Okay, so\u00c2\u00a0 there were only 6 stitches per row, but with this bulky yarn, it amounted to a full 1-1\/2” of scarf.\u00c2\u00a0 I was as pleased and proud as Laurel was.<\/p>\n

Years ago, knitting was one of the classes I taught children. I learned then that the yarn must be appealing, the needles must be large and the project must be small.\u00c2\u00a0 It seems to be working with Laurel.<\/p>\n

Knitting was my first needle art, learned when I was in 7th grade.\u00c2\u00a0 My best friend’s mother was a master knitter and wanted to teach us to knit. \u00c2\u00a0 My mother, a skilled seamstress,\u00c2\u00a0 wanted to teach us to sew.\u00c2\u00a0 But sewing didn’t interest me (can you believe it?) and knitting didn’t interest Susan (as an adult, she owned a knit shop!).\u00c2\u00a0 So every Saturday morning, we passed each other on the sidewalk as we swapped houses and moms to pursue our individual preference.<\/p>\n

I spent my babysitting money on yarn, needles, and each issue of McCall’s Needlework magazine and had knitted several sweaters and afghans by the time I was in high school.\u00c2\u00a0 Like the teenager below, I took my knitting to school and sneaked it out when I had finished my class work.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was a good student, so the teachers were indulgent and looked the other way. Today, the needles would be classified as weapons and I would have been expelled, never gone to college, lost all opportunities for a better life and probably ended up living a life of crime.\u00c2\u00a0 Thankfully, things were different then.<\/p>\n

Of course, others took notice and before I knew it, I was teaching my friends to knit.This pattern continued and in my freshman year in college every one of the 50 girls on my floor made a pair of slippers under my tutelage.\u00c2\u00a0 I should have known then that teaching was in my future.<\/p>\n

As Sadie, Sadie, Married Lady (if you are over 50 you might remember that Barbra Streisand song from Funny Girl),<\/p>\n