I Have Excitement

Yesterday I worked the Maker Faire teaching folks to knit. Anyone who stopped by was encouraged to pick a ball of yarn and pair of needles and sit down one-on-one with a teacher to knit. It was fun on both sides of the needles. One of my first customers was a father-daughter pair. Dad hung back and let his daughter pick out yarn. He was prepared to wait. But I said, “Okay Dad you too.” He kinda looked at me. But his daughter egged him on ”Yeah Dad you learn too.” Turns out Lucy already knew how to knit like a pro. After a refresher on how to cast on she was off and knitting with her bright purple variegated yarn. Dad on the other hand was starting from scratch. He picked out a pale orange cotton and we made a slip knot. Slowly I showed him the steps. He watched carefully. He concentrated very hard. He made one stitch after another. The light blub clicked and he got it. One row and he was done though. But he had a satisfied smile on his face. When Lucy was finally ready to take off I packed up all their supplies. “Here you go. You get to take the yarn and needles home.” “Really?!” “You bet.” Dad still had a smile on his face.My next student was a young Italian woman. She said she didn’t know how to do the second part. Hmmm. The second part? I wasn’t sure what she meant: the next step after cast on? The second row? I plunged in from the beginning. I showed her the cast on. “Oh I can do that.” Cool. So she cast on some stitches. I showed her how to make a knit stitch. “Oh I can do that.” Cool. She knit a row. I turned the work around and showed her how to start the next row. “Oh O can do that.” Cool. I was not following what I should be teaching her. But we smiled and had fun sitting and knitting together. She finished another row. “Now the second part?” She asked. “I’m not sure I know what you mean?” “The second part. How do I get it off?” Oh! I showed her how to bind off her stitches. Knit one. Knit another one. Pull the first stitch over the second one. “See?” Her face lit up. I handed her the needles. She knit one, knit another, and pulled the stitches off. “I have excitement!” I had to laugh. She raised her hand, “High five!” I smiled and slapped her hand. I have excitement too!