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Back to Basics: Teaching Children to Knit
by Sauniell N. Connally

For the past year I have had the distinct pleasure of volunteering at the local Boys & Girls Clubs of America. I started as a helper in the art room but after hearing the girls’ desire to learn knitting, I volunteered my services.

Having never done this before I had to decide on the structure of the class. First, I decided on a basic set of rules:

Homework first -- There is no knitting until homework is done.
Knitting needles are not toys -- Safety is important. No poking, waving or playing with the needles. This is a one warning rule. The second time you are suspended for 2 classes.
Patience -- Knitting takes time and you will mess up but that’s okay. You will get better. If you aren’t having fun, take a break and come back to it later.

The next thing I set was an age limit of age 9 and up; the main reason being that the younger girls generally don’t have the attention span or dexterity.

I started the group with 4-6 new knitters. They needed direct instruction. Unless you have super powers, it is unlikely that you can teach more 4-6 children such a hands-on skill at one time. After 3 months of good progress the girls didn’t need as much help, and I was able to introduce new knitters into the group. To date, I am up to 12 girls.

In the first session the girls learned how to read a yarn label, how to pick the right needle size, the thumb-method cast-on, and the knit stitch. Once they can worked several rows without too many mistakes, they moved onto the purl stitch. I taught them the English method, which is the way I know how to knit, but many of them adapted to their own unique way. As long as the end result was correct, I didn’t stop them. It is all about what is comfortable for them. After they were comfortable, they picked a project to knit.

There were two important things I learned about young new knitters:

· They need to pick a project they like, and;

· They need to see results in order to stay motivated.

The first project we did was to make a handbag. They chose the number of cast-on stitches and knit a rectangle. When they thought it was big enough to fold in half, they cast off and stitched it up.

The next request was to make a scarf. Knowing that they would get bored with a long straight scarf I devised the Shapes Scarf pattern {insert html link to pattern}. Using a combination of rectangles, squares, circles, and triangles, the girls made up a scarf. The individual shapes gave them a quick sense of accomplishment and kept them interested in finishing the scarf. It also proved to be a great way to teach them increasing and decreasing.

Working with these girls has been one of the most challenging, yet fun and rewarding things I have done. We focused on having pleasant and interesting conversations while we knit. I taught them and they taught me. The girls have a fresh and inquisitive outlook on the simplest things and I look forward to knitting with them every week.

Choose your shapes and knit the Shapes Scarf project here.

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