Starting to Knit

Knitting enthusiasm is sweeping across the household. Ivy and Caeli decided that they would like to pursue knitting in a more intensive fashion - both having tried knitting before, but not recently or seriously.

In order to learn properly, they are using the dvd The Art of Knitting 4 Kids
http://www.amazon.com/Knitting-Kids-Leisure-Arts-4406/dp/B000PGTF2I

Setting aside my deep disgust at the use of a numeral instead of simply spelling the word out - kids who want to knit can probably also spell the word for - this is a very interesting dvd. It features both adult storytellers and child instructors. The instructions are clear and memorable. However, the best part is the visit to the Alpaca farm. Not only is it interesting to watch the process of wool-making, but alpacas are so cute.


The first step is making knitting needles. For this, the girls used wood dowels and a round wood ball with a hole drilled in it from Dad's woodshop. If you don't have wood balls and a drill, don't worry about it. There are many things you can use as the ends for your needles. I think some of the suggestions were acorn tops? Be creative!

The girls sanded the dowels smooth and sharpened points on them, then sanded those to the correct smoothness as well. There are still squares of sandpaper floating around that they haven't yet taken care of. But I have hope for the future.

The end product, I think, was worth all of the effort. They are beautiful wood needles, and the girls started using them right away.