I very recently started reading The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. On page 4 she writes, "They say that people teach what they need to learn.". I'm not sure how I feel about that statement, being a teacher. I teach knitting and crochet at a LYS on a regular basis, and I love it! It makes me very happy to share my passion with others, and I feel my real motivation for teaching is just that. I've even been told by my mom that as a young child, when asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, my responses was to "teach people crafts".
Some of my best childhood memories have to do with knitting and other crafts. I have been drawn to creating things for as long as I can remember. I am told that I learned how to knit when I was 3 years old. I can honestly say that, like learning to walk and talk, I can't really remember the learning part. Its just something I have always known how to do. However, I do remember, after watching my mom knit all the time, asking her if she would "show me how to do that". It is a vivid memory from the first house I ever lived in, so I do know it had to have been from before I started school.
After moving to our new house, I have a memory of the thrill of knitting a pleated skirt for my stuffed panda bear, which I had also knit and sewn together. I was amazed at how, by simply changing between knit and purl stitches, I could create these perfect folds in my little pink baby skirt. It felt like I had performed some kind of magic! And there was the Mary Maxim kit that my mom gave me to learn Fair Isle and Intarsia colour-work techniques, and the satisfaction of giving my stylishly knit potholders to my favourite great aunt, Jessie.
Then, during junior high, I started getting books out of the public library about knitting. I wasn't much for reading novels, like my best friend, but I could eat up a book on knitting techniques. That was when I first learned short rows and 3-needle bind-off for creating 'professional looking shoulder seams'. And, again, it felt like I had performed some kind of magic!
All these wonderful knitting memories I treasure, and I love sharing all that 'magic' I learned with others. I revel in the "Ah hah!" moments, and nothing feels better than when a student falls in love with knitting, and seeing their enthusiasm and passion grow! So that is why I teach.
Although, I have to admit, it is not like I don't ever learn anything from my students. I have learned a bit about what it must feel like to learn something like knitting as an adult, without the safety net of a knowledgable mom to help you out when things go wrong. I think I have learned through my students how to be a better teacher. I have even learned a thing or two about knitting in the process. And, I've learned a lot about people, and have had the great opportunity, through teaching, to get to know so many wonderful ones! So maybe, in some not-so-direct way, I do teach what I need to learn. Or, at least I learn because I teach. And I'm just fine with that!
