For those of you with young knitters

[CanBoo]

I know there was threads about that before, before they seem to relate to age rather than milestones...

Xpost in childhood years

When did you teach your child to knit or crochet? Which one first?

I learned to knit I was 6 and I have successfully taught 7-10 years old to knit. But dd1 is only 3 years and 2 months and she is very interested in knitting or crocheting. Something tells me she'll be good at it too.

She's not quite there yet, but I don't know when she will be ready... I don't want it to be too much of a frustrating experience for her, but she is so good at crafts and tends to master those things earlier than a lot of kids I see around.
I don't think she will have any interest into finger knitting, she wants to do just like me... She likes the tools.

Here's where her fine motor skills are at:
Use scissors and follow a line to cut out a shape.
Write her name.
Draw people and animals that are fairly recognizable
Properly hold a paintbrush and a pencil
Butter a piece of bread
String smallish beads to make necklaces
Successfully use different video games remotes (GameCube, Wii and Leapster) Yeah... We are geeks and that is a milestone in our house
Put the shoes on GMa's Barbies

She can also reliably count to 14.
She can also sit down for long periods of time and concentrate on a craft, movie, story, etc...

She cannot:
Button up a shirt.
Start a zipper.
I was thinking of waiting until she masters those two and then go for it, starting with 6 or 7 mm hook...

So for those of you who have an early crocheter/knitter, where were they in term of fine motor milestones?

[dillonandmarasmom]

She sounds a lot like DS in terms of her development, but DS still has not "gotten" regular knitting. He first asked around 4 yrs old. He is now 7 and still has not really taken hold of it...thought that may be more due to level of interest.

What about teaching finger knitting? Check Youtube for quick lessons (there are a couple done by kids that are fantastic).

I am teaching knitting to a large group, ranging in age from 4 to about 45. We are starting with finger knitting, and will progress tot eh needles soon. Some are ready to cast-on, but felt they wanted to try finger knitting to see what the stitches actually look like first (this makes really big stitches that show the shape and "look" well).

[konamama]

my dd started to show interest starting around 4, i started with finger knitting, she lost patience fast - it "was all junky looking". this happened a few times. then at 6 i started her on needles, still following her interest. at first her patience was short, lost stitches, added stitches, etc. it annoyed her way more than me - i knew she would get it sooner or later and continued to follow her lead. by 6.5 was getting it, less mistakes, but knitting really tight. now at a week shy of 7 she loves it, makes few to no mistakes, is making a recorder case :-)

i think it can be a lot like any learning - a process, taken in stages. feed their interest without making it a do or die situation.

[Millie Ivy]

My kids loved finger knitting at 4ish on up. I taught my daughter how to needle knit maybe at age 6.5-7? But she never really found her rhythm until recently. She will be 9 next month.

She has, however, been a whiz at handcarding fiber, and then spinning it. In fact, she is currently knitting up her first hand carded, handspun yarn into a coffee cozy this weekend. She loved working with fiber but the finer motor skills just were frusterating to her. The larger movements of carding were her favorite from 7.5-8.5 years old.

[rootzdawta]

It sounds like based on the skills she has, she could knit with a knitting spool. I've been crocheting and knitting for years now and it was so much fun to learn to use a knitting spool. There are lots of projects out there that you could use your cords for too.

[Austin'smom]

My son is about the same with his fine motor skills. He was really asking so I tried to teach him with some large sz 11 needles, but he couldn't really do it. I got him the knitting looms from Joanns and he is able to manage that quite well.

[CanBoo]

Thanks so much.

I tried some finger knitting with her. Got her to do the long crochet chain with the verse.
She likes it. It was pretty funny because she kept changing the animal in the verse. So there was pigs and seagulls in the fence along with the sheep.

Unfortunately though I had forgotten one thing. She on the edge of being ambidextrous and decided that she'd do that as a leftie. (It depends on the task. She holds a pencil as a leftie, but eats right handed.)
Teaching knitting left handed will be quite challenging in the years to come. I'll have tons of fun!

[jrabbit]

my mom taught DD1 to crochet at about 7yo. She is rather impatient, so even now, 3 years later, she really doesn't do more than long chains. I taught DD2 to crochet at about 5yo - she is also only doing long chains ... I bought kids' knitting needles 4 years ago, thinking I'd teach them to knit - but after the crochet experience, I don't think I have the patience. Hopefully, soon.

I am very intrigued with the knitting spool - I think I'm going to look for that and start there.

One thing to note is that they are both very crafty girls, and they are probably more capable than I give them credit. But having 3 daughters, all at different age/readiness, I just haven't found the patience to sit down and try (fear of failure). I knit and crochet CONSTANTLY. I don't know if seeing my projects hinders or encourages them - because I'm far from a beginner, and I do grandiose projects all the time.

The other problem is that I knit continental - and it is important to me that they knit the same way because I **REALLY** don't want to have to deal with the throwing method - so I can't just shrug it off and let someone else teach them.

--janis

[Artichokie]

my dd is 28 mo and has been helping me knit for over a year. she sits on my lap and wraps the yarn around the needle and i pull it through. She can't do it all by herself, but she was so interested in learning at such a young age that I just had to make it possible.

[BeanyMama]

My 7 year old started weaving on a little wooden loom at 4, I think it really helped him get used to the feel/tension of yarn, and he started knitting around 5. My current 4 year old has amazing motors skills and hand-eye coordination and no interest in knitting or anything yarn-related at all. My 2 year old loves, loves yarns and needles and helping me knit. The knitting spool is such a great idea! I'd love to get a little knitting 'shroom for her...

ETA: My vote for knitting or crocheting first is knitting! Simply because it's a little trickier to learn (at least 'twas for me), I'm glad to have tackled knitting first. Although I'm not sure it matters a whole lot...