Friday Morning Knitting Club Finale

Today was the Finale ceremony for the FMKers.  The whole class sat on the floor in a group.  I called each FMKer up to the front and presented them with their bracelet, a project bag which included needles, pattern and yarn, and a certificate. In addition, there were 2 children that tried their hand at knitting, but decided it wasn't quite their "thing", and I gave each of them a bracelet as well.

As each child received their goodies, the whole class would applaud for that person. What a wonderful group of children this has been!

Friday Morning Knitting Club Update

The Friday Morning Knitting Club is going strong!  The children (girls and boys) were learning well beyond my expections (remember, the children are 7 & 8 yrs old).  The children were separated into 2 groups of 4 - 5 students each.  As with any group, some had immediate success, some had very little success, and the majority were trucking along somewhere in between.  The teacher (fabulous woman!) helped me to divide the groups so that the skill levels worked well within each group and that allowed me to help some while giving others more direct attention.

Both groups had started on a beginning project -- a beaded bracelet.  I put together a project bag for each child that contained a ball of cotton yarn, a set of size 8 needles and a written pattern.  I wrote the pattern in a standard pattern format, but with more detailed steps.  I wanted them to learn more than just the knit stitch, but how to start a project, how to read a pattern, and how to finish a project.

I gave each child a packet and asked them to take out the contents.  We started by reading the Materials (Things You Will Need) section, and I asked them to make sure they had all the items.  I had the beads on paper plates (bowls would have worked well too) in the center of the table, so it gave the children the chance to note that an item was missing from the list.

They each picked out 7 beads. Then we turned to the Pattern Instructions (Things You Will Do) section and began by reading the first step.  Everyone began to move at their own pace from here on out and I was able to float among them as needed.  We kept the time for each group to about 20 to 25 minutes.  Attention spans waned and wandered after that, and it allowed me to work with all of the students each week.

By the 3rd week, the children were comfortable with each other and looked forward to coming.  Their skills were not progressing as much as their enthusiasm, but that wasn't important at that point.  On that 3rd week, something unexpected and amazing happened.  Each group morphed into a real knitting group!  By that I mean that they did just exactly what all of us adults do when we sit down to knit or crochet with others--they began to talk about whatever was on their minds, to share ideas, family tidbits, and successes.

I was reminded of times when my own girls were toddlers and just getting their feet to take flight. They would take off running in one direction while looking in another, and run smack dab into a wall or doorway (it only took once for each child).  The Friday Morning Knitters (FMK) were doing the same; their hands kept moving and they looked at each other when they talked--with about the same success.  Stitches slipped off, or the yarn didn't get wrapped around the needle.  But all that gave me great opportunities to teach them the correct way to do things, and gave me many chuckles.

Things were going quite well . . . until standardized testing interrupted! During the testing, no volunteers are allowed on campus, and we had to stop for several weeks.  So today, my expectations were not very high; they are quite young, after all.  But, again, I was surprised by these little people.  Their muscles still remembered the basics, but most importantly to me, their enthusiasm had not flagged during the hiatus.

I don't hold any lofty thoughts of how they will go home and knit this summer, but I do hope that each one has had a positive experience with a craft. And that the next time a needle or hand-craft opportunity presents itself, they will take it with the same enthusiam and joy that they did this year.

Knitting Fever

I was helping in my daughter's 2nd grade class one day and spied a book called Knitting Fever. The plot was that a sheep on a farm caught knitting fever and then taught all the other sheep on her farm and on a nearby farm to knit. The sheep worked furiously and ended up knitting all of their wool. This turn of events caused the farmers quite a bit of concern, as they had no wool to sell, and therefore no income.

The farmers and the sheep put their heads together and came up with a good solution: the sweaters that the sheep had knitted would be displayed and sold at the county fair. The farmers made enough money from the sweater sales to cover all of their expenses.

The story ended with the sheep making plans to knit "mittens and gloves next year".

I asked the teacher if I could bring in yarn, needles and a few items that I had made to show the children what the sheep were doing. She agreed, and I brought in a pair of socks, a blanket and a top. I had a pair of big needles and chunky yarn, and demonstrated the knit stitch, then let each child who wanted to make a few stitches.

I thought that would be all she wrote, but the children were so excited that the teacher asked me to create a knitting club.

And that is how the Friday Morning Knitting Club was born for 10 2nd graders!