Roberta Writes – The story of the Pink Panther for Esther Chilton’s writing challenge and Reena’s Xploration Challenge #378 #prose #poetry

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Esther Chilton’s writing challenge this week is toys. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2025/04/23/writing-prompts-62/

Reena’s creative writing challenge this week is creative non-fiction. You can join in here: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2025/04/24/reenas-xploration-challenge-378

This piece fits both topics perfectly.

The Story of the Pink Panther

When I was a young girl I did not like to knit. I like to sew. I liked sewing so much that I designed an entire wardrobe for my younger sisters and my Barbie and Cindy dolls. I also hand sewed a dress for myself with a dropped waist and a frill around the bottom of the skirt. I liked to create. I created a dolls house out of a wooden tomato box and decorated it with doors, windows with views, and curtains all cut out of old magazines. But, I did not like to knit.

Unfortunately, the nuns thought that all young ladies should know how to knit. Not just passably. Oh no, they wanted us to knit well. To this end they ceaselessly gave us knitting tasks of greater complexity involving adding and dropping stitches, measuring, changing pearl stitch to garter stich and vice versa. They even made us learn ribbing and how to turn the heel of a sock. Oh, the incredible unkindness of it all to a girl who hated knitting.

The last knitting assignment I had was to knit a Pink Panther. The toy in question was not small. No, it was an significant trial of knitting reaching a height of 60 centimetres … if you followed the pattern. The assignment did not, however, give a required size for the horrid task. It provided a pattern and said a knitted Pink Panther had to be handed in on a certain date.

I left it and left it. Suddenly, it was the day before the knitting assignment was due. I spent the entire morning at school contemplating different ways of managing the disaster. Mom wouldn’t let me stay at home the following day and even if she did, I couldn’t do all that knitting in one day. And then inspiration struck.

When I got home I went straight to my room and got started knitting. I knitted and knitted and by the early evening, the Pink Panther parts were made. After dinner, I sewed the toy together and stuffed it. I sewed on the face. By bed time I was finished. I had a perfectly knitted and stuffed, 15 centimetre high Pink Panther. The pattern divided perfectly by 4.

The following year, the instructions were amended to include a required size of 60 centimetres. I still regard this as one of my greatest school triumphs. I wasn’t even marked down. Sister Agatha knew when she was outwitted.

Tiny pink toy

Creative thinking triumphs

Earned a perfect score

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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63 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – The story of the Pink Panther for Esther Chilton’s writing challenge and Reena’s Xploration Challenge #378 #prose #poetry”

  2. Like you I much preferred sewing. Om was left handed and I’m not so when she tried to teach me to knit, I just couldn’t figure it out. It was not a requirement at school. I love your ingenuity, it’s something my daughter would have done!

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  4. I sympathise. I knit all the time now, but second year juniors, at St Peters’ C of E, one term was allotted to knitting. Our class teacher was Major Drew, but while he took the boys for technical drawing or whatever boys did, we had to go next door to ‘Old Cannon Ball’ ( Miss Cannon ). A few of us were so useless we were not allowed to make potholders and had to to knit doll’s scarves. I can still see the thick yarn, mine dull red and the girl next to me had yellow which got grubbier each week. However hard I tried I would end up with twice as many stitches on the needle and it never got longer.

    Soon after, one winter’s afternoon, Mum showed me how to knit and I suddenly caught on and knitted a fair isle doll’s scarf.

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  14. I’m glad I never had to knit at school. The short time I spent trying to learn was bad enough. I can’t sew either, except for the most basic repairs and hemming. Clever of you to figure out how to get the project done!

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  18. Good for you, Robbie, for outwitting the teacher. And good for her for appreciating cleverness instead of marking you down.

    I hated knitting when growing up. My grandma taught me as we didn’t learn it at school. We did sewing.

    When a new girls’ school opened, and we were moved there, the cookery rooms weren’t ready, so we had what they called ‘craft.’ I made a little felt dog, but then the teacher said she would teach some of us to tat. My friends and I all decided to learn, and I’ve made a few things since. One friend tats all the time, and every year we all get a lovely tatted Christmas tree decoration.

    My mother taught me to crochet. She was great at it and crocheted tablecloths, table mats and lots of things like waistcoats, fashionable in the 1960s.

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  23. It’s an awesome pink panther. I loved to watch the cartoons. And I loved to knit too though no one taught me or made me do it. Our home economics class wanted us to embroider, and darn.

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  25. Yay for Robbie!

    I’m impressed you remember the sister’s name. I went to Catholic school until Jr. High. I remember only 1 name – Father Carnlough. (hope. you’re having fun in the bush!)

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      1. Interesting! I’ll have to read “Through the Nethergate” one day.

        I have a good memory too, and I remember lots from that time. However, the nuns… they were so mean to me. I think I blotted them the honour of being remembered.
        You have a lot more than a good memory! 🤗

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  26. enjoyed this post and wow – your pink panther came out so well and you really pulled it together – how inspiring. I made a denim frog and some kind of holiday tree – and wish I still had them both – but they are long gone. I also made a small bookshelf in metal shop and was glad I was able to do that

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  27. Very clever, Robbie! Well, you followed the instructions (sort of)! Love the story!

    I like crocheting, but knitting wasn’t my thing either. I am not good at sewing, but I about managed to do the tasks required at school. I wasn’t the worst at those things, but was (and still am) terribly clumsy. It sounds as if I was quite lucky, really.

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