Gearhead Mom

Friday, January 16, 2009

Knitting Got You In Knots? Try Knot-A-Quilt!

Posted by Gwen R. @ 8:52 AM

Ed. Note: Here’s another gem from my sister. Keep it coming, G!

The outside of the packages says that Knot-A-Quilt kits are for children 6 and older.  I guess at 41 I can still qualify under ‘older’, right?  Made by ALEX toys, a company that seeks to provide quality creative products, this kit has far surpassed my expectations for ease of use, quality, and sheer entertainment value.

We went looking for the kit to diffuse an on-going problem.  My 7-year old daughter T always wants to knit with me.  I love that she wants to be with me, I love that she wants to knit and have dreams of us knitting together. But at 7, knitting is still too hard.  So every time I bring out my knitting we have a problem.  She simply isn’t developmentally ready to knit without tears. But now, now we have been saved by knots.

The thing that Knot-a-Quilt gets right is that it isn’t too easy but it isn’t too precise either. 

You have to work at knotting a quilt’s worth of knots.  It requires focus and an ability to see the big pictures. And when finished, it feels like a major accomplishment - all the pleasures of knitting with none of the pain.  Shoot, maybe I’ve found my own new hobby. 

The standard blanket kit sets you back less than $30.00 (you can get scarves, hats, ponchos for shorter attention spans).  In it, you get 48 nine-inch, fleece squares in ‘6 awesome colors!’, enough to make a finished quilt that is 36” x 46”.  The fabric is soft, bright and not easily damaged (we tried – there was a minor incident when it was transformed into a ‘dog leash’ – but even then it didn’t tear).  Each fleece square has four sides, each with twelve tabs cut into the edge, giving it a fringed look.  To put it together, the quilter matches the tabs on one square to the tabs on the other and simply ties a knot in each one.  Tie 12 together in a row, one square side is done.  Tie all 48 squares together on all matching sides and you’ve got a quilt.

The package is compact and the squares light, making it an excellent travel project.  T entertained herself knotting away for over an hour in the back of the car.  On the downside, like so many craft projects, there is nothing keeping the many parts together and a good number of untied squares were found squirreled around grandma’s house (come on, though, we’ve certainly left worse things there than small, fleece squares - but don’t mention it to my mom).

It is possible that a precise and focused child under six could enjoy Knot-A-Quilt, but I can’t imagine T having what it takes to line up the little tabs much before seven.  (With a younger child this would likely be a ‘parent-led’ project.)  Even at 7, a few of the early squares were tied a bit free-form… By her fourth or fifth square, though, she decided that she really did want a finished quilt and started paying attention to which tabs were knotted where.  Now, with her work about half way through, we can both see the quilt starting to come together.  We are both proud.

If you have a child especially concerned about making mistakes, or one who likes to do things over again, the resilient fleece can be tied and untied making this a craft kit that can be more than a one-moment-wonder. For older children to tweens (or, ahem, adults), the pleasure of making a pattern and tying the knots evenly would, arguably, make a more sophisticated product.  If you tied two or three kits together, you could end up with a good-sized quilt. 

Last night when T asked me if I wanted to put down my knitting and join her knotting, we got to work together and both got to feel the satisfaction of a job well done.

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