1.30.2010

My Little Knitter


When my 4 year old daughter came to me the other day and said
"Mommy I want to knit too. Can you show me how to make stitches?"
I practically melted in my seat.

"Are you kidding me?.. !!!"

I have been waiting for this day.. for well... about 4 years! :)
I've determined that my daughter will love knitting.
She'll have to. I will make her.. or something.

So every few days we've been having "knitting classes" together.
They last about 5 minutes or so...But it is oh so sweet
to watch those little fingers hold the yarn and needles.

I've remembered a little children's knitting rhyme that I heard somewhere to help her remember the steps.

It goes something like this..

"In through the front door. Run around the back. Out through the window and off jumps Jack!"

I can't wait until we can truly knit together. That will be so fun!




44 comments:

A Life of Knitting said...

The most wonderful part of it all is that you and her will have memories to share for a long time! How proud you must feel.

goodkarma said...

Squeee! I can't wait to do this with my daughter! Have a great time. :)

Pinneguri said...

Never heard about that wording - great! Good luck, both of you :D

Seona said...

Awww - she'll be knitting along with you in no time at all!

Ellemme said...

It's so sweet! My 2 years old daughter is already saying that she knits, like Mum, going through holes of a crochet blanket, with a big crochet I let her playing with.. :o)

Anonymous said...

Wow, at only four years old! I wish my mom had taught me back then! And now can't wait to have a baby to indoctrinate... ;)

Virginia G said...

Hey! My four-year-old daughter just asked me to teach her how to knit this week. We've got about two rows on the needles so far.

Five minutes at a time seems about right for attention span/frustration levels...

Dajda said...

Beautiful! I've also taught my little sister to knit but she doesn't seem very motivated - she takes up her knitting rather rarely I'm afraid.
Good luck to you both!

Ntxwriter said...

I recently taught my 30 year old daughter to knit baby blankets. It is terrific to pass a beloved obsession on to the next generation!

the nest said...

isn't it wonderful?! that puts a smile on my face! my little one also wants to be a knitter, and of course, i encourage her all i can!

best - annri

CuteStuffInside said...

I have also just begun teaching my daughter, Frannie, to knit. She is eight, soon to be nine. I tried about a year ago, but she wasn't into it - now she is - hooray! We sit and knit together - we even bring our knitting to Crumbs Bakeshop where we share a cupcake and knit together. I see people looking at us and smiling. Frannie is also a Brownie/Jr. Girl Scout - so for this year's birthday we are having a knitting party and all the scouts are invited. I am going to teach them how to knit - at least the knit stitch and they will each go home with a pair of adorable needles, some yarn, a small tote bag, printed instructions with photos, and a "2010 Knitting Fun" patch for their sashes.

S.W.A.K.

Anonymous said...

this is so cute! i imagine it must give you a great feeling to teach your daughter to knit!! :) i hope she stays interested in it! Congrats!!

CG said...

Oooo!!! A budding knitter, so sweet!!!! I'm sure she will love it!!!!
I love the rhyme too, perfect for little ones!!!

Unknown said...

My mom taught me to crochet and I remember being a teenager and we would sit together working on our afghans. How wonderful to have a little partner!

CeRae said...

Love the video! I need to go check my knitting for triangles!! :) :) :)

Unknown said...

Oh, how sweet! Those little moments are so precious. Isn't it great that you can capture them on film?

Melissa said...

Wow! Looks like she's picking it up quick! She'll be a pro in no time, especially with the great teacher she has!

kjt said...

I have been doing this with my daughter for a couple of years now. Often it works better with people other than me working with her. She has two projects going right now, a scarf that may never get finished, and she just started a little cowl with Blonde Chicken Boutiques' beginning knitter kit. It will be days in between her knitting, but I don't want to push her if she doesn't want to do it.

Anonymous said...

adorable video! thanks for sharing. i have tried to teach my 7- and 8-year olds to knit with little success. i am not an especially patient person in this regard but you have re-inspired me -- thanks! :)

Elly said...

Aww she's so adorable! I think it's so wonderful that you're teaching her how to knit at a young age, that's what I plan to do with my future children.
I'm curious, what needles are you ladies using? They look like Lantern Moon Ebonys, but I could be wrong.

Elly

Jen Price said...

Thanks for sharing the rhyme! My 5 year old daughter wants to learn but she's not too coordinated. I want to teach her but have tried to think of how! I'm going to put this rhyme to work!

CelticCastOn said...

soooo sweet! I'm dreaming of this day with my little one too. Enjoy it!
The rhyme I learned with when I was little was:
In through the bunny hole
Round the big tree
Out through the bunny hole
Off goes he.

AudKnits said...

I love the video! Such a cute rhyme. It makes me wish I were a kid again, learning to knit with my own mother. These are definately times to cherish.

I wonder what her first knitted animal will be?

Anonymous said...

So sweet! Every once in awhile my son (who is 3 1/2) will sit next to me with scrap yarn and pencils and pretend to knit. I can't wait 'til both he and my daughter will want to learn to knit with me!

Alaska Denise said...

I learned to knit when I was five year old by watching my mom take knitting lessons. Here I am at 52 still knitting! A lifelong passion. Have Fun

Kylie said...

that is so cute. My miss 4 has asked a few times and have put her off. We started at four with a knitting nancy - she is getting there with that and we will graduate to needles when she is five:)

Jennifer Edwards said...

Oh, I love this!! The memories of teaching both of my girls to crochet are some of the sweetest I have. My youngest, age 8, loves to curl up with HER basket of yarn and crochet with me. I haven't taught them to knit though...the crochet took over. Perhaps one day...

French Press Knits said...

This is totally precious. My 4 year old niece has been asking me for a while. I told her that she has to learn to tie her shoes, and then she'll be ready :) This is encouraging to me because everyone else says to wait until they are older. Thanks for the video!

Dawn said...

Yeah! This is fabulous! Then she can help Mommy with all her deadlines and projects...a budding test knitter!:)

Lisa said...

What fun! I remember teaching my daughter. You could also try finger knitting - then she is just using her hands and some yarn and not trying to manipulate the needles too - you end up with a long chain which she could make into a bracelet, a collar for a stuffed animal, etc.

YarnOnTheHouse said...

I'll have to show that video to my daughter who is 8 yo. She'll like that. :)

Clovermillie said...

Precious!

Anonymous said...

the cuteness is killing me!!

Anonymous said...

I'm very jealous, what a wonderful experience to have.

Jen said...

Very sweet!!

Holly said...

Awww.... so adorable! Another little knitter has been born.
My younger sister knitted random terrifying pieces that looked liked artifacts. Dropped stitches, it got wider and wider.But we loved and treasured them and she was so proud of them. Then a few weeks ago I saw she was knitting something and asked her what it was. She said she was going to knit something big, but she was going to purl the entire thing because.. "My purling is not that good and I need to improve it".
I was floored.
And she did it. Purled a whole scarf, in cream,worsted weight wool. She nearly burst off her buttons presenting it to Dad.

Here is the knitting rhyme we used: Under the fence, catch the sheep, back we come, over we leap.

Congrats again! And do share when you have pics of her creations!

Liz said...

Sweeet! I'm counting the days until I can teach my two year old niece to knit.

Heather said...

Yea! My baby girl is 9 months old, but she will sit and watch me knit (and tries to steal my yarn.) I cannot wait until she is holding her own needles! Good for you and your bonding!

Mollie said...

That is so sweet! I'm trying to teach my 7 yr old & 5 yr old daughters knitting - it's not going well. I'm going to keep trying though!

Faith said...

That is so adorable! My 2 year old daughter says she wants to knit and pretends to knit things. I can't wait to show her. I just bought a pair of really large (as in number), but small (as in length), and blunt knitting needles for her to play with while I knit.
The other day when I was organizing my craft supplies I found the pink knitting needles my Mom taught me how to knit on when I was little. I am so excited that I will be able to teach her on the same needles sometime in the near future! :D Thanks so much for the rhyme!

mprezzia said...

That's awesome! I've taught my 4 younger siblings to knit. They've all forgotten, but it was a riot teaching them! David(10) and Rosie(8) would see who got the farthest and made the least amount of mistakes each day. They really enjoyed the rhyme. I used the same one with a few different words "In through the front door, out through the back, lasso overhead, and off jumps Jack!" Thanks for bringing back that memory;)

ilovewool

Unknown said...

This is amazing to be able to start learning knitting at the age of four and I am sure the fondness has passed down from you.Lovely video...I am going to start teaching my 9 year old soon.

Obama

Unknown said...

I love your blog and your podcast! And it is so sweet that your daughter is starting to learn to knit! My 3 year old son likes to "knit" too - he stabs the yarn balls with my needles :) He'll often tell me that I have a nice sweater on... and he looks at chainlink fences and asks if they are knit(ed). Makes me smile everytime :)

The Restless Knitter said...

so sweet! My 9 year old knits, but not too often, but the little one (2 next week) see's a ball of yarn and yells 'KNITTING'
hehehe, hopefully my obsession will rub off on her :-)