Yarn Gallery Blog

In the Voices section of the Reading Eagle today, there’s a well-written article about the bond knitting created between a grandmother and granddaughter.  I wish I could provide a link but there doesn’t seem to be one.  It’s written by the teen, who talks about how her grandmother taught her to knit (again and again) when she was a little girl, and how it never really clicked with her until she was older.  Her grandmother can’t knit anymore due to arthritis but with her expertise and the granddaughter’s hands, they created an aran sweater together.

Very heartwarming, but the part that struck me is that it took a long time for this girl to really like to knit.  Many of us learn to form a knit stitch when we’re 8 or 9 years old, but there are a million other things to learn to do at that age and most of us don’t have the attention span or the hand-eye coordination to be serious about it.  If you’re the teacher in this scenario, it’s natural to get tired of teaching the knit stitch over and over again, only to see the child forget about it over and over again.  My point is that you should keep at it, and whenever a kid expresses interest (in anything, really but I’m only talking about knitting right now), you can put up with the boredom and show her or him again.  And again.  And again.  Someday they may really love to knit and will remember your patience and the time you spent teaching them as a very special gift.  My grandmother taught me when I was a little girl and I think that’s why I love it so much.  Whenever my Grandma Freda came to visit, the bag full of orange acrylic came out of some closet and she would show me the knit stitch again and we would knit together.  I made dozens of orange garter stitch squares over the years, but knitting and other hand crafts didn’t really take hold of me until I was in college.   And then they never let go!

On to the fun stuff:  Here’s a look at Janet’s Cuzco Wrap in progress.  The class is nearly filled, so if you’re interested, give us a call right away.  Janet’s making it in a light heathery blue-green Montera: 

And she also just finished the mittens for her class in very yummy alpaca/merino Highlander.  Her pattern provides a custom fit:

Jettie Hunt made this pretty pink set in super-chunky Blizzard.  I love the color on her, and it’s going to be very useful this week, when we have high temperatures in the teens.  Brrr!

And Jettie must be on a knitting tear because she also finished this perfectly-fitting sweater in Schaefer Yarns “Miss Priss.”  The pattern is a favorite of hers, and you can see why:    

Carol Sullivan made this wonderful side-to-side sweater, also in Blizzard.  I love the fit, which can be tricky in a bulky yarn.  Doesn’t it looks great on her?

And finally, Deb Hawk came in just after we had gotten this wonderful colorway of Debbie Bliss Chunky Donegal – I’ve been waiting for this for a LONG time – look at all the colors in this tweed and imagine how many things you could wear with it:

Deb loved it and loved the sweater design we did for it.  She looked so darn cute, we had to take her picture:

She makes a great model, yes?

Okay, I think that’s it for this week, although I always forget something important.  Doesn’t matter, the boys need their walk, then they get haircuts today, so off I must go.

See you soon!

Trish

Finito, originally uploaded by yarngal628.

The Bonsai Tee is done!