I’m celebrating Christmas with a 13-year-old cousin on Saturday and I’m going to give her a knitting kit. (I want Gramma to show her how to knit while they’re together so that she has that memory, so it’s largely irrelevant to me that she might prefer an iTunes gift certificate in the here and now.)
Anyone have a suggestion for an easy first project for a young teen? A scarf might seem kind of intimidating… An iPod cozy? A headband that she could knit flat and just seam up the back? Any other ideas?
I hope this doesn’t double-post, but my original comment seems to have disappeared. Anyway…
As a pretty new knitter, I do have a couple of ideas.
I decided to learn to knit last winter because I fell in love with these kits when I saw them at Pulp on the Hill. I thought the packaging was so clever that it completely overrode the fact that I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. I don’t know if they’d have the same effect on a 13-year-old, but it is possible.
The first iPod cozy I made a few weeks ago (not the one you saw, which I did on DPN) would make a great first project–it was really quick and easy. I did it in an afternoon and I am not especially fast yet. I used this pattern and adapted it slightly by casting on 14 stitches instead of 8 because I have a regular-size iPod and not a mini.
Hope this helps!
Comment by Sarah 12.11.06 @ 5:22 pmOh I would totally give her directions for an I-pod cozy for the first project or a cell phone sock.
I was 12 when I first learned to knit by my Mom and I think my first project was a pot holder or wash cloth, I can’t remember but I agree a scarf is way too intimidating for a first project.