playing with yarn, part 5 (knitting rhymes)

Knitting is rhythmical, and one way to help keep rhythm while learning is to knit with a rhyme. When my older son was young, we learned this one for the knit stitch:

Under the fence

Catch the sheep

Back again

Off we leap

At that time we knew of no purl rhymes, so we made up our own:

Yarn to the front

Dive down deep

Catch a pearl ("purl"--I know, ouch!)

It's yours to keep

(Sometimes it's hard getting that loop off the needle in four short syllables.)

A quick search now turns up all sorts of knitting rhymes, not only for knit and purl, but also for Continental and English knitting. I think all that matters is that the rhymes you use are easy to remember and intuitively fit the motions of knitting and purling. A good rhyme helps cement the physical memory; the less you have to think about knitting, the more fluid and enjoyable it will be.