Knitting At Work

Along about the first part of December one of the girls I work with asked me if I'd teach her to knit. Of course I jumped on it! I chose the pattern I wanted to teach (Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth) and put together an email with pictures and a supply list. I sent that email to 6 ladies and the first day of our class I had 5 show up, needles, yarn and smiles at the ready.

At the conclusion of our lunch hour here's how it panned out: two ladies were all over it, one was struggling, one said no thank you and the other was frustrated enough she toss her needles aside.

The days continue to pass and K, the frustrated one, kept trying and quitting. Finally I suggested she get with Loni (my daughter-in-law who also works where I do) and have Loni show her how. Different people teach differently, so maybe that would be better for her. Also, Loni knits continental and perhaps that would click for K. And it did! She took to it like wildfire and absolutely loves it!

Our new work routine is to eat lunch at our desk and then gather together during our official lunch hour and knit together. We've had comments about how stereotypical we are in our hen party - sitting in a circle knitting and visiting. And the gal that originally said "no thanks" to knitting still sits with us and she crochets.

So far in the 6-8 weeks they have been knitting we have mostly seen scarves - in every color and texture. They are all beautiful and oh so soft. There have also been blankets and dishcloths aplenty.

And one of the girls has become a hat expert! I'll bet she has done 10 or 15 hats and has conquered knitting in the round on circular needles and dpn's. The blue hat in the picture is one she made for one of the guys here.

They also are coming up with their own knitting slang. DPN's are known as "depends" and stitch markers are "Cheerio's".

The father of our hat expert recently passed away. When P got back to work she came over and gave me a hug and thanked me for teaching her to knit. She said that she did a lot of knitting and that it helped to calm her during her grief.

We talked yesterday during our lunchtime knitting about how it is a "zen" time in the midst of a busy, crazy work day. After knitting they said they felt refreshed and ready to tackle the second half of the day.

I think they get it.

:)