Yesterday some of my daughters’ friends came over because they begged to be taught to knit. They wanted to learn to crochet, too. So with my own two, there were five girls here, ages 11, 12, 13, 13 and 13. That requires a great deal of macaroni and cheese!
In preparation, I spent the morning going to three different Goodwill stores in search of cheap yarn for our lessons. I spent a total of $16 and got enough to pretty much cover the surface of my bed. 
I set up a little demo just as an introduction to it all. They each brought some knitting needles and crochet hooks, as well as a skein of yarn of their own. When they first arrived I was still sorting out the Goodwill yarn, and we all congregated in my bedroom where they learned how to wind yarn into balls. We discussed hank horror and what to do about it. They felt rug yarn and pronounced it “icky.” LOL. They handled baby yarn and oohed and aahed. There was a pretty good variety in weight/color/texture. Then I put it all in a big basket and we all went to the living room. I showed them different kinds of needles and hooks, explained their uses, showed various other tools such as cable needles, circular needles, double-pointed needles, tiny steel crochet hooks for thread, row counters, interchangeable needles, plastic ones, little ones, fat ones…you know. Then I had assembled a variety of yarns to pass around. We had cotton, acyrlic, chenille, scratchy wool, soft merino wool, a cashmere blend, alpaca, angora, suede, eyelash, homespun, boucle, solids, variegateds and who knows what else.
They had big ideas about what they wanted to make. My kids already knew a lot and were helpful, thank goodness. Every girl picked out a bit of yarn that appealed to her, and I taught them how to cast on. It was amazing how quickly they learned. One of them, especially, was absolutely enthralled. She was so cute with her forehead furrowed, using plastic needles and paying such close attention. She didn’t get very frustrated, asked all the right questions, and soon her face lit up. She said, “This is…easy!” This girl saw a fun fur scarf my daughter had knit out of that free Mr. Brown I got, and wanted to immediately try out eyelash yarn. It was so funny. I cast on ten stitches for her and she went to try to knit. She held the needles in her hands, looked back and forth at them, back and forth again, and just plunged in. “Where did the stitches go?” she said. But she did knit about four rows and discovered how that yarn covers evil mistakes and actually decided she liked it. Of course, she is 13.
Yesterday we only covered casting on and the knit stitch. But it was enough to get them hooked (no pun intended). Only one of them wanted to put down knitting and learn to crochet. She learned how to crochet her foundation chain and do a couple of rows of single crochet.
At the end of the day when their mothers picked them up, they somehow convinced one of the mothers to drive three of them immediately to Michael’s. This mother is not a knitter or anything. Her daughter said, “Mom, you’ve GOT to see Yvonne’s stash!” (yes, she actually used that word, bless her!). So she ran toward my bedroom, expecting her mother to follow after her. The mother stood politely in the living room waiting. So the girl comes back out and says, “Mom, it’s not going to come to you; you have to come to IT.” I just smiled. Next thing I heard was my walk-in closet door opening and her exclaiming, “My God! It’s… on bolts!” (that’s where I keep my yarn that’s on cones). So then I think she was a little afraid to go to Michael’s. I didn’t think she could take the shock of being exposed to the rest of the stash.
When my daughter got home from the trip to the yarn store, she reported that her two friends ended up spending $100 between them on needles, yarn, and crochet hooks. And yes, they bought self-striping fun fur. Seems one of them has a horse who apparently needs a fur boa now.
During the day I heard this exchange:
My kid: "Mary, come and see so-and-so’s AIM profile…"
Mary: (No answer)<<sitting on couch carefully knitting
My kid: "Mary. Mary. Mary, you coming?"
Mary: “Wait a minute, I have to finish this row.”
I tell you, I got a little choked up. Another convert.
And yes, I told them about KH.
