Knitting

Knitting is something that your granny would do, sitting in her rocking chair by the coal fire….. Isn’t it?

Instead, I find knitting has once again become a craze since the likes of Russell Crowe (yes, I said Russell Crowe) Sarah Jessica Parker and Julia Roberts revealed that they too enjoyed knitting –

It wasn’t until three weeks ago on a wet Sunday afternoon I received a panic phone call from a very good friend of mine who lives in London that I remembered how relaxing and therapeutic knitting can be.  My friends Mum belongs to a church and the ladies of the church had decided that this year’s Christmas present to the local residence of the old people’s home would be knitted blankets.  So they set about this wonderful task, only to realise as they came to make up the blankets (from knitted squares) that the originally thought 10 residence where now in total 35.  – Being few in number the knitting circle, realised they had a much bigger job on their hands than they originally thought. So the distress call went out and managed to wing its way as far as Oxfordshire & West Sussex.

Without a second thought, (apart from where have I put those needles and have I got any wool) we leapt to their aid.   – Hence in true style of the DC household – I couldn’t find either the needles or the wool, so visited our local Urban Angles and purchased what was needed. Now on a cold evening I can be found curled up on the coach with my 10 year old daughter knitting for England, The next generation has started to be taught the pleasure that you can get from knitting, the wool entwined through your fingers and the occasional click click of the needles as one stitch is moved to other.

This thought then reminded me of many years past, when as a little girl I had been sent to my grandmothers for the school holidays and must have been bored (as young children have a habit of being), that my grandmother took the time to sit down and show me how to knit.  Much to my amazement the knitting on the needles grew quite fast (and quite often when I’d gone to bed). Nothing too adventures was tried, a scarf, a teapot stand and I think somewhere we even tried our hands at making a blanket (but I’m not sure where that ended up), and here am I now passing that skill on to my own little girl.  Who I am very pleased to report is getting as much enjoyment out of knitting as I had at her age.  We do on the odd occasion (every two rows) have to stop and count how many rows she has now completed. 

I hope one day that my daughter will have the time to stop for 5 minutes and pass this skill on to her children.