So, I'm teaching a knitting class this semester: an 8 week course, 2 hours a week.
It was frighteningly easy to do. I work at the local community college and I called the lady who runs the arts & crafts of the continuing education department and said "Do you need somebody to teach knitting in the evenings?" and she said "SURE! Write up a course description and tell me what day you want it on and I'll put it in the schedule." Just like that.
Now, realistically, if she hadn't known me because we work at the same place, I'm sure she would have demanded some sort of proof that I can actually knit and knit well enough to teach other people, but still, I was nervous and she made it easy for me to do.
While I am teaching the course I am doing the CYCA's certification program b/c - heck, why not? When we move it will be nice to have the certification, assuming I pass, and have at least one class under my belt to market myself around & try and find a place to teach to make some money and get to know people.
Now onto the real topic.
It is fascinating how people learn. Knitting is one of those kinesthetic learning things, you learn by doing, and doing, and doing. I learned to knit from a book. I admit it. I'm odd. My grandmother gave me my great grandmother's knitting needles one day and so I stopped and picked up a book and some acrylic yarn and went home and fiddled with it and swore and mimicked the pictures and finally ended up knitting - I did knit twisted stitches for the first 3 years b/c I wrapped in the wrong direction...little things...I was knitting!
Teaching this class I am working with 7 people and they all are learning differently. One lady takes a longish time understanding the motion, but baby once she's got it down, her stitches are even, her tension is perfect, and she never asks about that particular task again. There are two perfectionists who keep starting over no matter how many times I tell them not too, one lady who forgets how to do something halfway through the row, and the rest are just your average new knitters.
Here's a funny story. I taught them the cable cast-on because it's recommended for newbys b/c at the end of the first row you've kind of got the hang of the knitting already. I DETEST the cable cast on, but we did it for the first class. The second class, the class where we did purling, ribbing, stockinette stitch & so on, I taught them the long tail cast on - they LOVED it. So much easier, so much faster, so much less fuss and so on, in the past when I've taught the long tail cast on people have been confused - lesson learned - teach the cable cast-on first and then they'll be relieved to have something else to try!
Next class we are doing seaming, increases, decreases and gauge and they will start to work on whatever the first project is that they picked out. So far I've been having them do washcloths.
Oh & related rant. In the CYCA instrutor's manual, it tells you that English method is still the "preferred" method to teach students. I won't do it. I knit Continental and nobody can tell me that (no offense intended here) all of that extra motion putting one thing down and throwing the yarn and then picking it back up again is actually BETTER than Continental. To each her own, I say. I let each student hold the yarn however it worked for them when we did the initial lesson, and then showed her how to hold the yarn in whichever hand she was favoring. It's not like the CYCA teaching police are going to come and check, it just bothers that some people honestly still think that one way is more correct or proper than another. Grrrrrr.
And now is the time that I show you cute animals in place of knitterly evidence of any kind.
Uh-oh, is somebody at the door?
