Move Over, Knitters

We've got another knitter among us. As some of you may recall, I introduced Natalie to knitting last year and we worked on it when she would ask. Her yarn and needles sat untouched for many months, but this weekend she asked when she would be old enough to knit by herself. I told her that at 6, she was already plenty old enough to knit by herself if she was ready to really listen to the instructions.

I quickly realized that continental knitting wasn't working for Natalie, mostly due to learning to hold the yarn - so we switched to English style and just letting the working yarn hang (rather than wrapping around her fingers). That made all the difference for her. She knit all evening and picked it up again as soon as she woke up the next morning! As a result, I am proud to show you Natalie's first FO (finished object, for the non-knitters):
Here's a close-up...the bottom third is where I cast on and got it started last year, also where she knit along with me (operating the right needle). The rest is all her own handiwork, even the bind-off.
And here it is, in its intended use...a blanket for her dog, Otis:

Finally, here's an extreme close-up of something I'm working on this weekend: