Imagine my surprise when I was asked to teach knitting at a women's activity at church. Yes, I know how to knit. But my experience is extremely limited. I've only made scarves and hats and one blanket. My form is completely incorrect - I don't hold the needles in the traditional way (in fact, I put one needle between my legs to hold it straight). But my stitches are right and very consistent.
I guess they were pretty desperate because they asked me to run the knitting booth at the craft day. Over the previous weeks, I have spent a little time agonizing about the prospect of being a horrible knitting teacher. Surely someone is gonna ask me a question I don't know the answer to. They're going to be so disappointed when they find out I'm a fraud. My anticipation was only heightened when more and more people called me ahead of time to make sure they got the "right needles" and the "right yarn". (my response, "I don't know, just get some yarn and needles")
But to my surprise and pleasure, everything went really well. Everyone caught on really fast and seemed to really enjoy what they were doing. Maybe I'm not that much of a fraud after all.
When I was younger, my mother used to try to shame me into doing sewing, cross-stitching, and all manner of crafty things by claiming that my pioneer ancestors were crying as they looked down on me from heaven.* Maybe they weren't crying today, but instead were watching proudly.
* A tactic, I might add, that never worked. I do not sew, cross-stitch, or do anything crafty except knit - a recently developed skill which I can only ascribe to a very cold Cambridge winter.
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