Mitten Tree

Well, I did my Mitten Tree thing again. It was such fun. This year I read the book The Mitten Tree to the children and I contributed a record 11 hats and 6 pairs of mittens. Here are pics.


The wonderful teaching day I had with the children was followed by sad news the next day that my brother passed away. I was greatly comforted by the support of coworkers and knitting friends, and though this has been a very sad time for me, I feel truly blessed that I have the love of coworkers, students, family, and friends. I hope that all readers of this blog will enjoy the love of family and friends over the upcoming holidays. Peace.

Teaching children to knit

I taught knitting to 2 little girls and their Mom yesterday. The girls are incredibly cute, ages 7 (just barely) and 9. It was only the second time I tried to teach such young children,and I made the mistake of trying to teach them casting on. It was perhaps further complicated by the fact that 9 yr old is a lefty and everyone else is a righty, so I thought I'd accommodate the 9 yr old and teach her continental knitting while everyone else learned the American way. That wasn't a good idea either.

Despite the initial frustration and floundering, we soldiered on and all learned the knit stitch at least. Mom mastered everything - casting on, knitting and purling. The 9 year old is highly motivated, and I'm sure I will have a future State Fair winner there. I will have another knitting lesson with them over Christmas break, and I hope to get pictures then.