To knit is a hit

Austen says it's important for children to have activities that turn them away from computers and let them be creative and "tinker." "You can remember everything you touch," Austen says, "see everything you did - you see every stitch.... Every year I'm dazzled by the new inventions" the students come up with.

"You are making something yourself from scratch," says fourth-grader Sarah Bates. "It's not like sewing, where someone else has already made the fabric. It feels good to have something you made yourself." (Sarah has big plans for future projects. She wants to knit something for her whole family for Christmas, but she figures it will take her a couple of years to get everything ready.)

Knitting will come in handy for years to come. Shady Hill eighth-graders Rose Friedman and Farrar Cooper are combining their love for knitting with helping the community. They have invited anyone who knows how to knit to knit with them during lunch. They plan to donate the finished hats to the Pine Street Inn, a homeless shelter in Boston. They've got a basketful of completed hats already.

The project knits together the school community, too. Young students see the older kids wearing their hats through the years, Austen says. "And they know that, in the fourth grade, they are going to learn how to knit. Last year was the first year that the boys came in and said, 'We're going to knit, right?' "

During art class, as students sit knee-to-knee working on their hats, they chat about other projects and the new Harry Potter movie. For the most part, fingers are at work. But when tongues start wagging, more than fingers are knitting, Austen puts in a story tape. The class quiets down as brows furrow and heads bend over geometric patterns of yellow, purple, black, and white.

"It's very calming," Austen says, "to sit and knit and listen to stories."

Knitting is an excellent way to develop concentration and small-motor skills, and to learn about color and design, says Judith Austen. It also has an appealing social aspect - you get to sit and talk as you knit. Ms. Austen has been teaching fourth-grade girls and boys to knit in her art classes.

If you'd like to try teaching a child to knit, make sure you have a passion for it yourself, Austen says. Your enthusiasm makes the project more fun for the children. Plan on spending a lot of hands-on time 'rescuing' their projects. (But remember, some 'mistakes' add character.)

Before beginning a hat, children should knit a few practice rows. Also, get the hat under way before trying to create a pattern on graph paper. (See hat instructions.)

It helps to work as a group, so children can encourage one another and share progress. Try listening to audiobooks as you knit. Austen also lavishes incentives: Whenever you finish a row, you get a cookie!

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