Knitting
Susan Feibelman is the head of the Upper School at the Packer Collegiate Institute. She believes that knitting has the power to change the world. I, myself, am not a knitter. I’m not as certain of the power of knitting but I will say that it changed at least 60 students of the Sivuyiseni Intermediate School in Port Elizabeth.
I usually get to South Africa a couple of days before the group so that I can see that everything is in place. One of my tasks is to explain each class to students so that they can register prior
to the group’s arrival. Susan asked that I just have 20 students in her knitting class. She said that she would probably have just one other person helping her so 20 was a decent size. So, I registered the 20. I had with me a hat that Susan made to give them an idea of what knitting was. The class ended up having over 50 students in it! Susan will not take the blame but it really is her fault. To her credit, it is very difficult to say no when a child says, “Susan, I want to knit.”
Sivuyiseni students had a lot to say about knitting:
“I love knitting because you can do it anywhere, any time.”
“It sort of relaxes your mind.”
“Susan is very nice for teaching us how to knit.”
“It was amazing to laugh and knit
with you guys. You were just like a friend, or mother, or sister.”
“I want to say that I like Lucy. She
is a great child. She is so nice and shy.”
“I can knit a scarf now.”
Because knitting had so many students, Susan took some of our best helpers to the knitting room each time the class met. Lucy was a big help with needles and the knitting knobbies (too involved to explain here but if you knit, you already know about knobbies). I am convinced that Lucy is one of the reasons that knitting was so popular. Grace Sur (center) and Kathy Barr (right) were a big help as well, with knitting and tons of other things including the storage room upkeep, teaching math,
sorting clothes, driving, sandwich-making, map-making with 8th and 9th grade, and shopping for food and clothes. What a team!
I have to say that even once we were back at the Hippo, where we stayed during the March and August trips, I was often the only person not knitting. The sound of those knitting needles clicking up against one another was often the only sound at the Hippo. Thanks to all the knitting teachers!
ArtWorks for Youth 226 North 5th Street, #5 - Brooklyn, New York, 11211
(917)376-0571
Executive Director - John V. Lombardo
