Teaching GD to Knit

I bought simple knitting kits for two of my DGDs Christmas 2013 and taught them both by sitting them in front of me so my arms and hands came round their sides and to the front. They could put their hands over mine till they got the idea. I also used the rhyme that I was taught to knit with:

Under the bridge
Over the bridge
Through the bridge
And off

It's just practice after that and rescuing their dropped stitches! (Lots!)

I knitted my first wearable garment - a DK jumper when I was 12 and My Dad bet me 10/- I couldn't! Good luck though I think 5 is too young - they don't have the manual dexterity at that age.

Agree, crochet is much easier to teach/learn at that age. If you try knitting, make sure the needles are short and the wool neither too thin or too thick, and does not split easily. I knit the Swiss/German way- so not sure it is a good idea to teach her my way. We wrap the needles around the wool, and not the wool around the needle the UK way (lots of arm flapping ;) )

I have been through this (there was a recent thread about it). In the end my GD found crocheting easier. I am not as good at crocheting as knitting but bought a simple book and am trying to keep one step ahead of her. She stayed last weekend and proudly went home with a crochet basket containing sweets for her mum. A few very helpful gransnetters recommended sites for patterns. The only thing is that American terms are different to English ones.