Boys Who Knit, (& the Mom Who Is Proud of Them)

So I'm knitting last night, and my youngest son, C, comes up to me and says, "Momma, I want to knit like you."

Well, how can I turn that down?

So I got out my biggest needles (US 10 1/2) and some soft creamy white yarn, and set off on teaching him. I had him sit in my lap and put his hands on the needles where they needed to be, then I held his hands, and we knit like that for about two rows.

After which he was delighted, but firmly said he was done.

Then my older son, T, said, "Well, I wanna learn."

(Keep in mind, this was the same child who said he didn't want to learn to knit when Steven told him I should teach them.)

So I had T sit in my lap and we did the same thing. And he knit for a couple of rows. Then I let him try it by himself. I saw he was having trouble knitting Continental like I do, so I showed him English style, which (from my teaching experience) I think is easier for kids to learn.

He sat next to me on our loveseat last night knitting his white swatch while I sat knitting on my sock. Well, I had my knitting in my hands, but I honestly wasn't doing much.

What I was really doing was watching my little boy maneuver the yarn and actually make it work - watching him as he knit his stitches, so carefully. Watching as the lightbulb went off in his head that recognizes the joy to be able to create from our hands.

He now totally gets why I love knitting: the joy of creation.

He wants to make himself a scarf, maybe some mittens, and a hat. He said he really thinks it would be cool to wear something that he made himself.

Isn't that awesome?