outlets: oil painting, sewing, latch hook, needlepoint, cross stitch, macrame - you get the idea.Dad is creative in his own right, but is not one with "crafty" stuff. He gets the knitting thing, though, and surprises me regularly with the knowledge he has acquired:
1. He accompanied my mom to The Yarn Harlot event in April and had a genuine appreciation for what she had to say - and did not think an auditorium full of (mostly) women knitting was strange in the slightest.2. He appreciates knit-geeky things, like how Mom can knit socks with more control (and in a better mood) by using sharper needles, how wood needles grip better for her, and the cool concept factor of Flat Feet sock yarn.
3. This one's the corker. Last night I was at their house; all three of us were seated on the couch, my mom working a pair of socks with Maizy, me knitting the sleeve of Kidlet's bolero. Dad leans over to see my knitting and says, "What are those you're using, about a size 6?" Wha? Um, yeah they were. Exactly.
Scott and Eric, I may have another member for Men's Knit Night by the end of the year...
6 comments:
That is awesome!
What a nice story.
My dad is the one who taught me to knit. The family lore is that my mom thought she should knit diaper covers while she was pregnant with me. It must have been all the rage that year. She didn't have a crafty bone in her body (good cook, good taste in many ways, but not a Person of the Hands) and I don't think she got very far with her project.
My dad, to keep her company, decided to learn to knit too, and made himself a pair of argyle socks for his first (only?) project.
And then a few years later, he taught me.
Now he's 84 and lives in a nursing home. His marbles have dwindled to a precious few. For his birthday in April I put a few rows of garter on some size 9 teflon needles, and I'll be damned if he didn't remember what to do, after a little prompting. It was interesting to see those O*L*D neurons sparking. I started with blue because he thinks he looks good in blue, but he gave it back to me and asked for red so there would be better contrast between the yarn and the needles.
I think we'll do a pot holder before we start that second pair of argyles.
Isn't it amazing how the right brain activities linger as the memory fades? What a great thing you're doing for your dad, Deb.
That's way too cool. Go, your dad! I don't think mine would know laceweight from bulky, but he does admire my product, so I can live with that ;)
Meema, can we call this a knitter's "coming out"?
Let's hear it for Crafty Dad!!! A flashback for you...Imagine, little Ness in the k-grade, working her little fingers off on a raccoon latch hook kit Mom & Dad bought for her. There was show-and-tell the next day, and I had my heart set on taking my completed latch hook in to show my classmates. It was getting late, and there was NOOOOOO way I was going to finish. Who took up my hook and finished for me? Yep. Daddio. Thanks Dad!
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