I've created a monster

Actually, several monsters. They are my 4th-6th grade after-school Shakespeare students in South San Jose, and I have made them all addicts. Knitting addicts, crochet addicts, but mostly just yarn addicts.

It started a few weeks ago when wee Caitlin, who is about as big and as cute as a button, saw me knitting the Autumn Sweater. She asked me a lot of questions - "Is it hard?" "How long does it take?" "Who's it for?" - until she got to "Will you teach me?" I started doing little lessons with her during their 15-minute rehearsal break.

The other kids saw what we were doing, and every day a few more stayed inside at the break - boys as well as girls. I found more leftover yarn, and started bringing as many needles as I could collect around the house. Some of them can't quite grasp knitting, so I tried crochet. Some of them can't quite do that yet, but they are taking to finger-knitting like moths to wool.

I bring good yarn for these kids - leftover bits of Noro, Debbie Bliss, Karabella, Great Adirondack. Their attention spans are short -- so far no one's managed more than a few rows or a long chain before deciding they want to start something else. (Sound familiar, anyone?) Anna, who is quite a good crocheter, made herself a pretty necklace yesterday out of some Great Adirondack. Robert lamented loudly that knitting just didn't seem to be his thing, but he's picked up crochet with no trouble at all. Michael made a fingerknit chain from the stage into the audience.

As for Caitlin, she managed to finish a project yesterday. She calls it a "dolly scarf," and it's a four-inch long bit of Noro Cash Iroha, twisted, knotted, and looped, but an FO as far as she's concerned. As she says, "Sometimes I have a little trouble keeping the stitcheries on the needles."

Here's the problem - they are so busy knitting that they don't want to learn their lines, paint backdrops, or even rehearse anymore! I may have to start confiscating yarn! This goes against my very moral fiber, but kids, we've got a show to do. There's a time and a place...

I took some photos of them yesterday and I'll post them soon.

Bits and pieces: Ada loves the Autumn Sweater. I'm glad it's in good hands! We picked out yarn for the matching skirt (a nice tweedy reddish-brown Rowan).

Dropped off some Auntie Becca purses at Come Ci Saturday, but haven't heard anything from Valerie about them yet.

Signed up for Stitches! Bad timing this year -- I'm opening "Arcadia" at the Pear Ave. Theatre the same weekend. So no Thursday or Friday classes for me. I grabbed two Saturday classes -- Entrelac with Margaret Fisher (about time I took something from her) and Pattern Writing 101 with Edie Eckman (I always love Edie).