Little Knitter and the Sparkle Yarn

What's this?  Tacky craft store yarn that sparkles?  When do I ever knit with that kind of stuff?  Well, the answer is I really don't unless it's requested.  This Stitch Studio Sparkle is 100% polyester, which didn't sound at all pleasing to work with, but note the children's knitting needles with it?  That's because it's not for me to knit.  It's for my four year old, Bear.

This was the answer to Bear suggesting I get every set of needles AC Moore had to offer, and being disappointed when I said I only needed two sets.  Exasperated, I finally said, "Look at these needles.  They look like they have bears on them.  Would you like to learn to knit like Mama?"  The answer was an emphatic yes.  We searched the racks for some good yarn to teach my little Bear to knit, and, of course, the answer was all the expensive yarns, in blue, Bear's favorite color.  I finally spotted this gem sitting there, priced at all of $2.  For a beginning knitter that may not stick with it, this was the perfect price.  Next came the sell, which was surprisingly not a hard sell.  "Look, Bear!  This one is blue and has sparkles!"  Sold.  Bear handed back the other ball of yarn that had been carried around and snatched up the pretty, sparkly stuff.  For a whopping $2, that's quite the deal!  It's the perfect yarn for someone who may not stay knitting much past the first few stitches.  I was pretty happy.

Of course, when we got home, Bear wanted to cast on right away.  I was busy with doing, you know, mom things.  We also had a guest over, so that didn't help with my eager little knitter.  Frustration ensued as I took the ball and needles away to work on later.  I'd started to worry.  Maybe I missed my window of opportunity.  Would Bear still be as interested come morning?

Looks like I had nothing to worry about!  First thing in the morning, before I'd even really started my day, the ball of yarn and needles were found and shoved in my face.  "Mama, can we do knitting?" Bear asked with excited eyes.  "No, Bear," I answered sadly.  "We have some stuff to do first.  You promised me you would do some of your preschool work when we woke up."  So off it was to preschool work, which was flown through.  Yarn and needles were shoved back in my hands.  "School is done," Bear stated, very matter-of-fact.  "We can do our knitting now.  Do it, mama.  I want to knit!"

There I sat, squirming preschooler in my lap, casting on for hopefully a good number of stitches.  I started with 25, but realized that would be too many for the small needles and they would likely fall off the end.  20 seemed to be just perfect.  On the stitches went, with constant asking, "Are you done yet, Mama?  You're going so slowly!"  As soon as the cast one was done, we were off to the races.  Bear sat in my lap while I guided small hands to do the motions.  "Hold your needles like this," I suggested.  "Now poke your needle through this way.  Very nice!  Wrap the yarn this way.  No, that's the wrong way.  Yes!  Like that!  Hold the needle and the yarn together.  You need tension so the yarn won't fall off.  Now pull your needle through, and pop the stitch off the end!  You've got it!  Do you remember for the next stitch?"

On we went like that, me guiding hands, Bear speaking each step as we went along.  "Now the needle goes this way!  And now the yarn goes that way, not the other way.  The other way is the wrong way.  Now I have to hold my needle and yarn, all together so they don't fall off.  The needle goes through, and pull the stitch off, just like this!"  I was beaming at my little knitter's skill as stitch after stitch were worked with painstaking care.  Bear was very careful to do everything just right, and was very pleased with the first little row of stitches when we were done.

One row of knitting required a lot of focus and concentration, so after that row we needed to take a break.  Bear said, "I'm done for the day, Mama.  Knitting is really, really hard."  We set the work aside.  I expected this would be it.  I would get one little neat row and that would be the end of our knitting time.  Bear is little enough to get bored easily with a craft and not stick with it.  I tucked the ball and needles aside, waiting for Bear to come to me and ask to knit.  I wasn't going to force the issue.  I want my kids to love knitting, not feel like they have to.

To my surprise, Bear came to me the next morning, looking up at me with the biggest smile.  "Mama, we need to knit now.  Can we knit?"  Once again we did preschool first, then on to my lap to work through a second row with care.  This time went a little faster.  There was just as much pride in Bear's face when we were done.  We put the needles aside for a break and Bear said, "I think we need to do more knitting tomorrow.  I want to make a scarf."

So here we are, working our way slowly through a scarf.  I can't promise how good it will be.  The stitches will be uneven, but Bear is working at it very hard.  Even if we're done in summer, I get the feeling this will be worn every single day.  My little Bear is a knitter!  Perhaps Bear will be the only one that takes up my hobby, but at least I have one.  Maybe they'll all be inspired by what Bear is doing and want to learn too.

For four days now my little one has been working hard, one row every day.  Each day is followed by an inspection of the work, just so Bear can make sure it's all good.  Each day we put on extra invisible sparkles, just in case it needs more.  Every day we work together, as Bear's small hands fall into the rhythm almost without my help.  It may take us a long time to work through this whole piece one row at a time, but we'll get there.  Maybe as this becomes easier and Bear's focus gets longer we'll add more rows at a time.  Until then, we've got plenty to keep Bear busy, at least until we're ready to start on a bigger project.  For now this suits us just fine!