the knitting kit

I've never been a knitter. My grandmother showed me one stitch and I made about three or four unfinished scarves as a child. That's my experience as a knitter.

From somewhere or other, my 4 year old son learned about 'knitting kits'. One day he was playing with some twist ties and a (clean) kleenex, pretending to knit. He referred to it as his knitting kit. I thought nothing of it.

The next day, he asked me for his knitting kit. Fortunately I had not thrown it out. I pointed it out on one of his toy shelves. He looked at it and said, "No, not my pretend knitting kit, my real knitting kit, you're supposed to get me a knitting kit!"

I am a dutiful parent, so I took him to Wabi Sabi the next day after school. The woman working there guided us through the selection of suitable knitting needles and yarn.

At this point I discovered that I had not brought any means of payment, idiot that I sometimes am. She told us to take it and pay the next day! (This kind of thing has never happened to me in the big city before, though it used to be common in the small town where I went to school as a kid.) The cockles of my heart were warmed through and through by this generosity, which successfully staved off my son's tears.

We went home and embarked on our knitting project. Wild speculations about what we could knit were thoroughly discussed on the way home: sunglasses to keep the sun out of our eyes! sweaters for the cats! At home, I managed to get one row of knitting started through trial and error. As I did so, I was flooded with memories of my grandmother showing me how to knit. I vividly remembered watching her hands holding the knitting needles and moving with lightening speed as mittens, hats, and scarves seemed to be created out of thin air right in front of my eyes. I told my son about my grandmother and showed him what to do with the loops. We did a few rows together, then he took the needles and did a row himself (read: thoroughly fucked it up, but who cares?).

Now he has abandoned the project, except as an overseer. I am dutifully knitting away at it. I have to say, it is an unexpected pleasure.