Learning to knit

When knitting out in the "real world", I often get asked how long I have been knitting. The when makes little difference to me. I've been knitting since I was a little girl, actually, the spring of my fifth grade year in school.

It's the how I started knitting that I enjoy relaying. Bea, a lovely and glamorous lady who lived in a house across the street, was teaching my mother to knit. I spent quite some time watching the two with their heads together, casting on, putting the right hand needle into the loop on the left needle, twisting the yarn around and then pulling it off. As they were finishing with the first knitting lesson, I gathered up my courage and announced that I would like to learn to knit. Mom said that someday I could learn to knit, but right then I was to young. I was truly disappointed and gathered a small ball of yellow yarn, two pencils and went upstairs to my bedroom. Hours later, I came down to show my mom not only one but two doll booties! I had knit four garter stitch L shapes, and had hand sewn them together to form baby doll booties. Mom took one look at the booties and in amazement said that perhaps I wasn't to young to knit after all! I was soon a better knitter than my mom and three years later I was the one to make my baby brother a sweater!

PS. Bea was the first "career woman " that I knew. She shopped at the nicest stores in Seattle and had things delivered to her house. Beautiful suits, and even high heeled shoes! I recently wrote thanking her for the life long skill that she shared with me. She called on the phone in return and we had a lovely chat. (She still drives to the grocery store and such - she's only blind in one eye. Oh, my!)