Knitting and Reading and Writing

I've been playing around with story ideas and have random little notes everywhere as I read, knit, watch TV, etc. One of these days, I might actually try to WRITE a book instead of dreaming about writing one!

I knew a couple of these knitting rhymes, but found a few more while thinking about story ideas, etc. It made me wonder what else has nursery rhymes to help teach. It also made me think about WHY they have these little learning devices and then it hit me: it must be because the literacy rate was lower then! A few more Google searches and it seems my supposition is on the money.

How to do the Knit stitch (for little kids):

Into the Bunny hole
Run around the tree
Out of the bunny hole
Away runs he.

(This is the one that I knew already)
In through the front door
Once around the Back
Out through the Window
And off jumps Jack.

Wow, this one is a bit...dark. For those who need knitting therapy ;)

Stab 'em
Choke 'em
Drag 'em back
Throw 'em away!

For the purl stitch:

In front of the fence,
Catch the goat,
Back we go,
Jump off the boat!

Under the fence,
Catch the sheep,
Back we come,
Off we leap!

Aren't those cute? Now I'm going to look for more for crochet, sewing, embroidery, etc.