The truth about teaching children to knit

Because our parents lived through our own childhoods and then endured those years when we thought they didn’t know anything, the grandparent years must be a rich time. It’s when they can spoil your kids, reverse your decisions whenever your bring your brood to their house, and hand over a big bag of sweeties just as you’re getting in the car to spend a glorious Sunday afternoon on the M4 to London.I bet they cackle into their sherry every time.

But my mother-in-law’s latest gesture reveals a diabolic sense of recompense – she has sent my daughter a knitting kit.

After spending a weekend learning at granny’s, my daughter has decided she loves knitting. “Polly knits,” she tells me, mentioning another child she plays with at granny’s, looking at me meaningfully. “Does Izzy knit?” she wonders, naming a favourite cousin. Granny of course knits, as do the aunts and probably loads of other people but not mummy. Which is why this particular type of “fun” has been greeted with tears, tantrums and a lip bitten so hard it’s bled. And that’s just me.

Because I can tell you that while knitters say picking it up is so easy, they are a bunch of yarn-toting liars. Reminding/teaching a child to knit is difficult even in the Internet age. My husband and I have spent the afternoon looking at countless videos and how to knit pages, few of which can answer questions I’d never even conceived up when I woke up this morning.

Things like “what do you do with the tail?” and “Do you put the needle in front of this bunchy bit of wool or behind it?” and “How do we keep the whole mess from getting teeth-clenchingly tight or a loose wobbly mess?” (The two sites that did prove helpful are this basic how-to-knit picture guide and this overview knitting demo.)

Of course all this is teaching my daughter persistence and the enjoyment of learning a new craft. Perhaps this was granny’s goal. After all, she is a dream mother-in-law. She cooks fabulously, tells terrific jokes and never forgets a birthday.

My guess is that this whole knitting thing will pan out exactly as she planned. Against my better judgement, I confess I’ve found it a bit addictive. I even completed my first little bit of knitting, and if there’s one lesson to be learned from it, it’s that it only gets better from here.

Jennifer Howze

I’m a journalist and blogger. Previously I was The Times’s online lifestyle editor and Alpha Mummy blogger. Now I’m co-founder of BritMums and BritMums Live! – our annual blogging conference that draws hundreds. Follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Google+.