“For sure, Felix, as soon as I have time.” That was my answer each time my youngest grandson, eight-year-old Felix, asked me to teach him to knit.
He persisted.
This weekend I had a day with him. I pulled out some needles his grandfather had made and a ball of wool.
“The way to learn to knit,” I told him. “Is to watch. Just watch as I knit. You’ll get in the groove. You’ll pick up the rhythm. The overs and unders.”
He curled up under my arm. And watched.
I said, “Put the needle in. Wrap the yarn around. Pull it through. Push it off.”
To the sound of the wooden needles clicking. I repeated. “Put the needle in. Wrap the yarn around. Pull it through. Push it off…”
He didn’t say a word.
Others I have taught to knit watch for a few stitches and then reach for the needles. They are impatient to do it themselves.
Not Felix. He put his face up close. He never took his eyes off the yarn. He could feel the groove. The overs and unders fascinated him.
When he took the needles in his little hands his fingers knew just what to do. He put the needle in. Wrapped the yarn around. Pulled it through. And pushed it off.
He didn’t want to go to the beach. He wanted to knit. He didn’t want a snack. He wanted to knit. He didn’t want to join the other boys in the yard. He wanted to knit.
Felix has the knitting gene. He knew when he had made a mistake. He knew what he had done. He even understood when I explained how to fix it.
What a beautiful, beautiful boy.
I love this so much !!! 💕
Awww, Felix is a special wee guy, always makes me smile!
Well, I see two things. A smart kid with good genes, and a farsighted grandma. I think you know to your probably worn out boots, (from making your path by walking) that the intergenerational sharing of what matters, what has worked best, what gives joy…is the job we elders have to do.