New Knitters

Monday at Kofe Haus, I taught two young people how to knit. That makes 4 this month. These 2, one male one female, are recent college graduates who can't find jobs, so are going on to graduate school. Like many, they would like to earn a little money before starting grad school, but since they can't, they are trying to make good use of their time.

It is so rewarding to me to introduce people to this wonderful ancient craft. I can't help but think of all the rewards knitting holds for them. I picture them going into yarn stores and feeling the rich texture of the yarns, picking out projects, knitting for others and knitting for charity, which just happens to be why one of these young people wants to learn. I also think of the wonderful stress releaser knitting is and how it can see them through a world of troubles. Now there is a Harvard study that says what we knitters have always known.

Maybe this won't happen for them, but it's a start. Most of us who have knitted for any length of time bless the person, or people, who taught us to knit. We recognize the importance it has in our lives. We know of the enjoyment of knitting with friends and relatives, of knitting when our hearts are broken and knitting at night waiting for a loved one to come home. We enjoy the felowship we have with other knitters and love the variety of people we knit with. We love making something special for someone we love and making something special for a person we will never know. When we see trouble and tragedy in the world and want to help we know that there is some organization that will help us reach out to others with our knitting...or we can start one. I know that we could go to Walmart and buy hats, mittens or blankets for the homeless, but it says so much more when the gift is from the hands and heart of someone who cares and took the time to invest in a stranger. We could purchase soft hats for people in chemotherapy, but how much better it is to send a soft hat in beautiful yarn or an intricate pattern.

And if these kids get wrapped up in grad school and jobs and they put aside their knitting, they can be like so many who learned once and only need a few minutes lessons to pick it back up and let knitting work its magic in their lives.