Teaching Kids to Knit

It's taken a few attempts but I think I've finally taught Effie (7) to knit and not only that but got her interested and excited about it.

So I wanted to share a little bit about how we got here, as it's not been quite as easy as I had imagined.

Both my kids learned to knit pretty young as they spent so much time watching me knitting away, but there seemed to be a bit of a disconnect between learning the motions and actually persevering with a project.

I think I forgot how long it actually takes to knit a whole finished thing - add to that how much longer it is when you're just learning and add again how time is so much bigger when you're little and you realise it's a lot for a small one and if it seems insurmountable then the chances of giving up are HIGH!

So this is what we did to try and minimise all those hurdles.

🧶 big yarn! We usually use aran or DK - we have used chunky but I think it can be a bit much for little hands

🧶 needles that are a good length for their hands - we have couple of sets of kids needles that are a little shorter, but actually have found using circulars are perfect, needles are smaller but the cord means lots of space for the stitches to sit (added bonus that Effie won't have the fear of moving on from straights to ciruclars like I did)

🧶 quick projects - we've been working our way through Kids Knit by Kerry Kimber, which has really fun simple projects that Effie is actually excited to make, we highly recommend this book.

🧶 the knitting fairy - this was inspired by The Knitmore Girls - after every row Effie knits, I knit a row. It means the knitting moves along nice and quickly plus, I can check for and fix any issues that may have occurred.

🧶 cute accessories - Effie has her very own project bag (we're using one from Stitchers Tees), some super sweet knitting needles with acorns on the ends and some fun stitch markers - I mean I love all these extra lovely things so of course she does too!

I'm so pleased to have someone else in my house to knit with (and share my stash with), I hope these tips can help you teach your little ones.