How many guys here?

[TangoLima]

I was just wondering how many men/guys are knitters here? How/when did you get started? What do you like to knit?

I just started knitting, and my son is now asking me to teach him. He is 11 and has a short attention span. I am just learning myself, so I don't know if I have the patience to try to teach him too. Of course, dad doesn't like he idea of his son knitting!

Any suggestions for teaching him? Good needle size for kids? Should I just teach him the knit stitch to start with?

Thanks!

[MMario]

I was just wondering how many men/guys are knitters here? How/when did you get started? What do you like to knit?

... Of course, dad doesn't like he idea of his son knitting! Thanks!

Gee - just ignore the fact that military men have been knitting for ages; that sailors and many other occupations have knit ; that knitting was a man's craft for hundreds of years (commercially at least)

Nope - the media has managed to brainwash the world in a few short decades into believing that knitting is unmanly.

Drives me nutzoid!

[cacunn]

TangoLima there are quite a few men on here that knit and do a good job at it. If you want to see some fine work check out some of MMario's lace work over at Ravelry, he is MMario over there also. Way above my pay grade but I'm getting there.

[Jan in CA]

We have lots of men here in KH.

There are a couple stereotypes when it comes to knitting..one is that it's "girly" and men shouldn't do it and another is that it's only for "little old ladies in rocking chairs." Bah! If you're son wants to knit let him. it's creative and good for small motor control which is good for anything he decides to do in life.

For anyone learning I always suggest US 8 or 9 needles, and smooth, light colored yarn. Start with a simple cast on like the knitted cast on and the knit stitch. Once he's good at that then teach him to purl. Let us know how it goes!

[MGM]

I was just wondering how many men/guys are knitters here? How/when did you get started? What do you like to knit?

I just started knitting, and my son is now asking me to teach him. He is 11 and has a short attention span. I am just learning myself, so I don't know if I have the patience to try to teach him too. Of course, dad doesn't like he idea of his son knitting!

Any suggestions for teaching him? Good needle size for kids? Should I just teach him the knit stitch to start with?

Thanks!

Teaching your son to knit may also help him extend his attention span. Just show him how to do what you know how to do, then you two can learn other things together. My husband's mother was a wonderful knitter. She taught my husband how to knit when he was little and it came in handy for him in boy scouts! So go for it and enjoy it together. You'll be glad you did!

MGM

[Mike]

My sister suggested I crochet. A panic/anxiety forum also suggested it as a calming meditative thing to do. I eventually called my sister at a low point and had her teach me crochet over the phone.
One time after a yarn sale trip my sister suggested knitting and showed me what she remembered. My exact words were, "No way, knitting is gay." (It was a joke, the irony of a guy who crochets calling knitting gay. But I had no interest in knitting, I only wanted big afghans which IMO are better crocheted.)
Then I saw a Knit And Crochet Today sock episode, made the crochet socks and thought knitting would be more practical for clothing (I already had a bunch of afghans) so I searched the internet and taught myself to knit, first using 2 arrows as needles to see if I liked it.

If you're learning there's no reason not to have your son learn along with you. As they say two heads are better than one and you may end up learning from each other.
After my sister taught my great niece my great niece figured some stuff out on her own to make it work for her. My sister wanted to be a crochet nazi and not teach her any more stitches until she did it "right". I told her to let her do what works for her, show her what she needs to do to make the stitch and figure out how to do it her way.

Dad needs to get over it and learn himself.

I suggest both knit and purl at the same time. You're eventually going to have to do both so may as well get all the struggling over at once.

[etoilechaude]

My favorite things to knit are hats. They don't have too many stitches, they go really fast, and they get smaller as you get close to finishing them (assuming you start at the bottom). I also like to knit shawls, but those are much more time consuming, they get bigger as you go, and I can't wear most of them.

Oh yeah, the other thing I like about hats.... no purling!! I don't really enjoy purling.

[TangoLima]

OK, so yesterday I showed my son how to knit. He has taken to it surprisingly well. Since he has ADHD, I really thought he would get frustrated and give up after a short period of time. Well, he took off, and now there is no stopping him!

He was mostly doing knit at first, but then today he asked me how to do purl. He doesn't like purl as much as knit, and I can understand that. Anyway, I showed him how to K2, P2, and then he asked me if you can knit one row then purl the next row. I said, yes! That's the stockinette stitch. So, he did a large section of stockinette. I was really surprised how well he did.

So, now, he's taking his knitting all over the neighborhood in his little drawstring backpack!

On the serious side, aside from playing video games, I've never seen him concentrate on anything for such a long period of time. And, he usually gives up on anything that requires much effort. Plus, he has always had some slight problems with fine motor control, so maybe this will help him with that as well. This may be the best thing that ever happened!

By the way, he will turn 11 next week.

[Jan in CA]

That's awesome! Maybe he'll teach all his little buddies.

[MoniDew]

every time we have a new man join the site, we have this question raised. perhaps it is time for a sticky on this topic - or - perhaps one of the boards on the forum could be dedicated to male knitters. either way, it would be a better way of keeping track than asking the same question every couple of months

Mods?