Third Time's the Charm

My grandparents are here for another week visiting from Connecticut, and I’ve definitely been enjoying “chillaxing” with them, as my Grandma would say. Ha! If you fell for that, you must have a pretty funny grandmother :). But anyway, my grandmother and I decided quite seriously that one of the requirements of our time together was her teaching me to knit. Having attempted to learn the art of knitting twice before and leaving two half-finished scarves in my wake, I was determined that this time, it would stick. A few months ago a friend tried to teach me, but the next day when the stitches slipped off my needle, I found that I had already forgotten how to cast on. I spent an hour studying a picture in a knitting book before tearing out my (nonexistent) hair in frustration. When it comes to knitting, I am definitely a kinesthetic learner.

I’m happy to report that my third (and hopefully final) attempt at learning to knit has so far been a success! Let me clarify: I’ve finished one 4” x 4” square, but in this case, the key word is “finished”! My grandma is an incredibly patient and adept teacher, constantly encouraging me while also quickly catching and correcting my mistakes. Her supervision is invaluable in preventing me from reaching “the point of no return,” where the only thing left to do is undo all your stitches and cry and/or burn all your knitting supplies in a frenzied rage, neither of which I’m hoping to do in the near future.

I was fascinated to find out how my grandmother learned to knit. At twelve years old, during World War II but before the United States had entered the conflict, she joined a group headed by a local woman in her community called Bundles for Britain. They learned to knit small squares of yarn that were sewn together to make blankets. The blankets were then "bundled" together and sent to convalescing British soldiers, who were often housed in old castles in Britain. As you can imagine, central heating was lacking, causing these castles to be quite drafty!

As committed as my grandma and I have been to this knitting business, my grandpa is the one who’s taken it the most seriously. The past few days, every time we’ve been watching a movie or doing some other activity that can involve multi-tasking and I’ve not been knitting, he’s sternly caught my attention and made a knitting motion with his hands. If I’m icing my hands by the end of this week, you’ll know why :).