Ruth waits for me at the foyer of the Mawson Raiders Club. She is there to sign me in. You have to be a member or a guest to use this club. As I walk through the door she bends to pick up the array of bags she has at her feet. The bags are filled with knitted teddies she is adding the final touches to. When people ask Ruth what she does, she replies ‘I am a volunteer’. As I find out this is so true.
Ruth is, like me, from the UK. Her accent differs from mine and I would put it North of Oxford, although she tells me Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire is just South, but only just. She tells me what she is working on currently is a shawl, and sewing on the faces of the part teddies she has been given to finish. The teddies are made by a collection of about 30 women who all contribute in different ways. Ruth explains that some women like to do the whole thing: knit, sew on the faces and the labels and sew up and stuff the bears, some people just like to do bits of the whole task. All the teddies are different. They use different yarn, the knitters have different tensions and some end up with quirks like one digit not quite the same size as the other. I can relate to this as I too have made teddies for gifting. They look easy but they fool you and they can be tricky. Mine had one arm a bit narrower than the other. Ruth assures me they are all loved, whatever they end up looking like.
The teddies end up in a variety of places; the Northern Rivers after a cyclone, local hospitals and further afield. It was not until Ruth heard directly from some of the first responders to disasters that she understood how important these little bears can be. Not only do they keep children entertained while their grown ups get on with filling in forms but they also act as a safe third party for the children to talk to. They are called Trauma Teddies for a reason.
Volunteering for the Red Cross by way of making teddies is not the only thing Ruth does for charity. A few years ago she organised a Yarn Stash sale. For those not in the know, this is a process whereby crafters like me look through their stash and donate what they do not want or know they will never use. Ruth collected this and then sold it on to people who might want it. This exercise raised over $10000 ($13,181.25!) for the Red Cross Flood Disaster appeal in 2022. But it was not just about the money. Those who donated thought about what the exercise was for, Ruth organised an army of volunteers, in shifts, to sort, sell and then sort again the bags and bags of yarn that was donated. I got to know other members of the Facebook group while counting money after the sale. The combined effort involved in the event strengthened ties and created new connections. It is these threads that make a community.
Ruth tells me, proudly, that she does not buy yarn, but does like to look. She is now known locally, as the person to go to with your granny’s stash when your granny has passed on, or your great-aunt’s legacy and unfinished cardis when great aunt’s arthritic hands will no longer allow her to knit.
Ruth tells me that her mother taught her to knit when she was about nine. Her older sister had been taught by their grandmother and Ruth badgered her mother until she relented. She made a scarf for her teddy. She is still making scarves for teddies!
Ruth can not remember when she joined the Facebook group but thinks it must have been fairly early on. She helped to set up the face to face meeting groups at Erindale and others. The groups allow for people to share patterns and experience, not just of knitting and crochet but of life: travel, the other things people do and the experiences they have.
The best work Ruth feels she has done was a Purl Soho shawl. She made it with donated Bendigo yarn. It had a 40 row repeating pattern. Ruth tells me, ‘I am not a shawl person’ so she donated this for a raffle which raised $2500. ‘It was very big and very gorgeous’.
The other thing the face to face group provides is fun and friendship. As the Steven West Mystery Knit Alongs progress the ties between the group members gets stronger. The last MKAL Ruth participated in, earlier this year, was a huge shawl. The pattern was released in sections over a number of weeks with each person picking their own yarn for the project. Ruth picked colours from her stash that were labelled, by the group, The Seafood Platter due to the pink and red hues. This too was given away, to a fellow group member.
Ruth has a few treasured possessions all of them related to craft. Her newest treasured thing was found in Dirty Jane’s on an outing to find a mirror for her daughter. (Dirty Janes is a collection of about 90 stall holders all in one location who sell a variety of second hand goods. You could loose days in there.) The Harrison Sewing Machine would not have been out of place in my gran’s home. Ruth is very excited about the possibility of using this machine. The photo she shows me illustrates how beautiful machinery can be.
Ruth’s other treasures are a needle gauge that cost $18 and a yarn cutter which can be strung around your neck to look like jewellery and can be taken on planes as there are no pointy ends. Both needle gauge and yarn cutter have served her well. All her treasures are practical which I think says a lot about Ruth.
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