
Knitting is a wonderful way to connect with students and get them to open up. It is also a skill that can be used to calm children who struggle with their behavior and to help students with special needs connect with their peers. Knitting and crocheting is also a wonderful way to connect generations and cultures.
Amazingly, I have found that the boys in my school enjoy knitting as much or maybe even more then the girls. The boys are very good at focusing on the patterns and tension of the stitches. Some of the young men have even taught our older male teachers and administrators. This even included a student who struggled to meet regular classroom behavior expectations teaching our principal and athletic director to make a hat for a baby.

This weekend I have been working on some new designs to teach the students. These new designs include using two pieces of yarn at one time and making cowls. The best thing about working with yarn is that if you mess up you can start over without any loss of materials. As happened this weekend when I made one cowl to short and wide. It is a great lesson in making errors and beginning again.
The above pictures are from websites I have used for patterns and instructions: http://dayliliescreative.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/learn-along-1-casting-on-learning-loom-knitting/
You can find more on my Pintrest site:
http://pinterest.com/kellylibrarian/