Teaching a Group

[Dreamweaver75]

Hi all
I am part of Big Brothers/Big Sisters which is an organization that matches older men & women with young kids as mentors/friends. I was talking with the lady that runs the Teenager Committee that tries to come up with new activities/ideas for the matches to do. I volunteered if anyone was interested to teach some crocheting -something I learned from my Grandma when I was small and do on a regular basis now.

Now I have two things:

1. I have been told that I crochet "different" by my mom & grandma but what I do works for me (apparently I move my hands too much) - do I show them the way that I do it? Or try to do the "normal" way - I am leaning towards my own way as this is what I am comfortable with and I am sure others will come up with what is most comfortable for them

2. What would be a good idea for a project? I was thinking a dishcloth or scraf. For the dishcloth I have tons of Handicrafter cotton I could bring in for them to play with but also have tons of worsted weight that would work

Any suggestions or nudges in the right direction are apprecaited. I imagine the group will consist of teenagers and adults.

As I am nervous being in front of a group any encouragment is helpful:manyheart

[sonnets_and_stitches]

Ooo, good luck!

I would lean towards teaching the scarf, or possibly a hat. Teens have a hard time getting excited about dishcloths.

[ldyer1]

Several of my girls crochet at work and they seem to like shawl patterns a lot. I would also recommend making simple purses. We recently made apples for the teachers at the end of school, and that was their first project. They werent too thrilled about that one, mostly because they are afraid the group wont last long, and they wont have time to make things for themselves. I would recommend finding similar patterns that make different items, for example using the double stitch you can make a simple scarf, bag, dishcloth (for the oldies). Teens like choice!

[slicer]

I would show them how you hold your hook and yarn so they get an idea. But you might also want to show them pictures of how others hold hook and yarn. They will learn to crochet whatever way is comfortable to them. Just be sure that you don't tell them they are doing it wrong if they hold it differently. Make sure that they do their yarn over correctly and insert their hook into the correct stitches and they'll find their own way.

I'd agree with a simple scarf or shawl pattern.

[Dreamweaver75]

Thank you for the suggestions! I think I will ditch the dishcloth and try to find something more 'fun' for the teens - will be surfing patterns for hours :eek LOL what else is new

[Redheart]

For teens, how about an ipod holder or cell phone cozy? Much cooler than dishcloth. How about if you call the dishcloth a "spa scrubber"? Ha ha.