Go Get 'Em, Rocky
Monday, July 16, 2007
Most of the time voice mails from my Mom sound something like, "Just thought that I could catch you. Call when you have a moment. I love you!"
But every now and then they sound like, "I don't remember how to knit two together or P-S-S-O. Call as soon as you can; I'm in the middle of a row."
My Mom and I have something of a one-way knitting hotline. Whenever she makes a mistake or encounters a technique that she's not familiar with, she gives me a call and I try to talk her through it. And although verbally explaining a knitting technique to someone over the phone isn't the easiest or most efficient pedagogical model, I wouldn't trade it for all the world. I think it works for us because I don't believe that my Mom really needs the verbal directions. She's a smart lady. She has lots of instructional knitting books and the whole darn internet. I think that our knitting calls are much more about the ever important pep talk. I see myself as Burgess Meredith to her knitting Rocky.
Somewhere along the line I was lead to believe that knitting was "too hard" for me. It kept me from learning to knit for a long time. It also kept me from moving on to more complicated projects as a new knitter. I know that my Mom had this misconception for a long time too. So now that she's over the initial hurdle of learning to knit, I like that I can prevent her from falling into the trap of not challenging herself. In knitting and in life, I think it helps to know that someone out there is rooting for you. And I'm glad that I can be that someone for her.
Last night I talked my Mom through binding off her first cabled project (hooray!) and through the first few rows of her very first lace project. Before we got off the phone, she told me that she would like her next project to be a sweater. I'm so very proud of her.
But every now and then they sound like, "I don't remember how to knit two together or P-S-S-O. Call as soon as you can; I'm in the middle of a row."
My Mom and I have something of a one-way knitting hotline. Whenever she makes a mistake or encounters a technique that she's not familiar with, she gives me a call and I try to talk her through it. And although verbally explaining a knitting technique to someone over the phone isn't the easiest or most efficient pedagogical model, I wouldn't trade it for all the world. I think it works for us because I don't believe that my Mom really needs the verbal directions. She's a smart lady. She has lots of instructional knitting books and the whole darn internet. I think that our knitting calls are much more about the ever important pep talk. I see myself as Burgess Meredith to her knitting Rocky.
Somewhere along the line I was lead to believe that knitting was "too hard" for me. It kept me from learning to knit for a long time. It also kept me from moving on to more complicated projects as a new knitter. I know that my Mom had this misconception for a long time too. So now that she's over the initial hurdle of learning to knit, I like that I can prevent her from falling into the trap of not challenging herself. In knitting and in life, I think it helps to know that someone out there is rooting for you. And I'm glad that I can be that someone for her.
Last night I talked my Mom through binding off her first cabled project (hooray!) and through the first few rows of her very first lace project. Before we got off the phone, she told me that she would like her next project to be a sweater. I'm so very proud of her.
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on Monday, July 16, 2007 at 9:25 AM.
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July 16, 2007 at 12:03 PM
How lovely to be able to teach your mum something. That sounds like a really great relationship.