Learning to Knit

My daughter, son, and I have really enjoyed the Knitting book by Klutz Press.  We were six, eight, and well into adulthood by age when we got it, and all of us found the directions easy to understand and the needles simple to handle.  Like all Klutz books, this one comes with everything you need to finish the projects in the book.  My two kids quickly decided on their own projects, but the provided ones teach you how to cast on, knit, purl, decrease, make a buttonhole, cast off, and sew your finished project together.  As a beginning knitter myself, I found the illustrations to be better than those in my "grown up" book.  The descriptions of what to do if you made a mistake were clear and easy to follow.

We were also inspired by the How to Knit book from the Usborne Art Ideas series (now out of print).  Like all the books from the series, this one is lushly illustrated.  I actually purchased it before the Klutz one, because the projects were so cute.  In addition to hats, scarves, and purses, there are little monsters, pillows,  and knitted flowers.  The projects are a little more advanced, but so inspiring.

I liked it that both books had projects that could be completed in a fairly short time.  Both books have some projects that would appeal to boys, but the Klutz book shows girls in virtually all the photos, which is unfortunate.

The Waldorf philosophy suggests that knitting is a necessary skill before learning to write.  If nothing else, it trains our fingers to be a bit more coordinated than they were and it allows us to bring something useful and creative into the world.  Younger children who aren't coordinated enough to knit with two needles may enjoy learning how to finger knit.  Here is one tutorial, and you can find many more including YouTube videos by using your favorite search engine.

MAKE magazine

When you pick up an issues of MAKE magazine, you never quite know what you will find. Unlike many do it yourself (DIY) magazines that focus on crafts or home repairs, MAKE seems to go out of its way to pack an eclectic mix if projects in each quarterly issue. For instance, one issue has everything from making a robot, to a mini fume extractor, to a simple child's memory game made from only paper, to plywood furniture.

And that's just a sample of the dozen or so projects in a 175 page issue. There are also many inspirational articles highlighting artists, machinists, programmers, and scientists who are all making interesting things. Each issue has a theme, but there are many projects outside the theme as well as regular columns. One of my favorite regular columns is called "Make Money" for which the tag line is "Sometimes it costs more to buy it than to make it from the money itself."

The magazine is best suited for teen to adult readers, however, we've completed several projects with our much younger children. Our daughter made her own lip balm, my son worked with his dad to make a vibro-bot, and both kids made a homemade cotton candy machine. Many projects require some experience with the tools and processes involved, others are suitable for beginning makers.

If you visit the website, be sure to stop by the Maker SHED for dream collection of books and kits for makers of all ages.