Today I held a little knitting gathering at Gone Wired Cyber Cafe’ in Lansing. It all started because a few of my knitting kidz were sad that they would not have CityKidz Knit! program this summer. So I thought about it, and decided that outside of Foster Center, I could choose a relationship with the kids that involved a get together or two during summertime.

This was the day the girls wrote “Knitting Rocks!” on my whiteboard. So the “Knitting Rocks!” summer knit gatherings were born. Today was the first.

This was not a class, not a City-sponsored event. I didn’t get paid to do it. I just wanted to give my kidz a chance to ask me questions if they got stuck during the summer. And I wanted to see them, because I do miss them terribly when we don’t meet regularly.

What happened after that, was I invited some of my other students (adults) to also come and join us. I was not very methodical at all, I just asked those people who I ran into between the concept and the party. But those who did come, had mostly met one another before, except for OfficiallyAKnitter (far left in photo) who usually gets private lessons with me, but who enjoys a gathering as much as anyone. She got to know the rest of the gang quickly and we all had a blast!

In total, I had four young participants, and two adult students of mine. That made seven of us in all, which pleased me very much. I figure that is a really nice success rate in the middle of a summer Wednesday. We are going to do another one next month, August 10, from 3:30-5:30pm (or so). If anybody local would like to come and join us, we’d love your company!

I wish I had more photographs. Here there are 3 of the four kids, but the fourth finished a wristband as a gift for his sister, in one session. Well, he bound off and will have to sew it together at home, but he was a speedster indeed.

Joy, the adult on the far side of the table, is in the middle of two pair of socks. One pair is my First-Time, Toe-Up socks, in Naturally. And the second is top down, two at a time on two circular needles. She’s taking a class at Rae’s learning this technique, tonight was the second of three sessions.

And OfficiallyAKnitter has finished her first pair of socks as well. She also used my First-Time Toe Up Socks pattern, and she made them in some wonderful bulky wool/acrylic as sort of slipper socks, sunshine/egg yolk yellow with orange Fun Fur in the rolled edges. She finished them up today, learning how to close up those pesky holes that happen at the corner of the gusset so often. The group was properly impressed with her excellent work!

The lone young girl brought me a present, a lovely pouch in sort of a half-moon shape which fit my cellphone perfectly! She made it in single crochet, something she just recently learned in CityKidz class between a little bit of instruction from me and a little bit from Jennifer, Joy’s daughter who could not join us today.

Note that she is holding two pouches in her hands in the photo. The pink/purple one was my gift. The purple/blue one she started and finished today in one session, with her brother’s assistance. She had been crocheting in circles and asked me today how to knit a rectangle (Whoops! I guess I needed to show her more in her first lesson.)

The first boy here, the brother who helped her out, is wearing a unique necklace. The dark navy part hanging center is his first attempt at I-Cord. The cord around his neck was a crocheted chain made with a crochet hook, something that he is still working on (he crochets very tightly). I am constantly amazed by the ingenuity of my young knitters. They can figure out how to make anything useful!!!

The second boy knit and sewed together this Lion Brand Microspun wristband in this one session. The yarn is so pretty, he really enjoyed it although it is slippery and can split more than the yarn he is accustomed to knitting. I think he was eager to have a simpler project this time, as he did bring the toe of his First-Time Toe-up sock (yes, you heard that right, this child is knitting in the round on double pointed needles and several inches into the foot of his first sock).

Can you see why I’m so in love with my job, with my kidz, with this teaching life? I had an amazing day.