Lifelong Learning: To Knit (and Physics because, Physics)

Last year I had the opportunity to fill in for the Physics teacher. Why is there a picture of knitting and a story about a Physics?

Because everything in life comes back to Physics.

Seriously! Every single thing!

Anyway, my job was to administer the test for the class that met right after lunch. If you’ve never administered a test to high school students or if you have forgotten the stress that tests can bring about…I’ll tell you. There is an almost palpable frenetic energy as students enter the room. And when they see a substitute on test day in Physics class? Psychotic.

Students arrived early to eat their lunch and study for a few more minutes before the start of the class period. I was eating my salad and previewing the test. As I looked up from my work I noticed a student working with yarn. I immediately asked him if he was knitting.

Yeah, Ms. Gyde, it relaxes me.

I followed up by asking him if he would teach me to knit after I bought some supplies. He gave me a shopping list and promised to come around one day at lunch time to show me. A few weeks later I had my first knitting lesson.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was hiking with my quilt guild friend Jill (who also knits) and our friend Lesa who doesn’t quilt (yet, ha!) but is an avid knitter. Lesa and Jill picked up where my Physics student left off and my knitting abilities are improving! It is so nice to have something that travels with me because quilting isn’t a very mobile activity!

Below are skills I’ve been working on:

1. Knit Stitch
2. Purl Stitch
3. Knit and Purl in the continental style
4. Seed or Moss Stitch
5. Swearing at and tearing out any or all of the stitches above
6. Watching YouTube videos about knitting
7. Swearing at those videos
8. Re-watching YouTube videos about knitting again and again
9. Ordering Wool and Alpaca and Bamboo yarn online
10. Stopping in the yarn section of any store that has one

A few more weeks of this and I’ll be a professional!

“…the number one reason knitters knit is because they are so smart that they need knitting to make boring things interesting. Knitters are so compellingly clever that they simply can’t tolerate boredom. It takes more to engage and entertain this kind of human, and they need an outlet or they get into trouble.

“…knitters just can’t watch TV without doing something else. Knitters just can’t wait in line, knitters just can’t sit waiting at the doctor’s office. Knitters need knitting to add a layer of interest in other, less constructive ways.”