Calm. Foodie. Knitter. Inveterate learner of new crafts.
Kathryn is a regular, irregular attendee at the Sunday morning face to face meet ups of the Canberra Knitters and Crocheters group. She knits, small but beautiful accessories; socks, shawls, cowls, scarves. When we meet on the Australia Day Holiday Monday at a cafe, she describes the top down jumper she is making in stripes with a Advent pack she purchased. Twelve small skeins, looking lovely but not always very conducive to making a whole item. Kathryn has supplemented the 12 small balls with some neutral tones to make a garment, and had to do some calculations to assure herself there would be enough wool.
Kathryn’s mother, who did everything crafty; sewed clothes, trained milliner, member of the Embroiderer’s Guild, painted and made pots, taught her how to knit. The local Guild meet at their house with Kathryn’s mother hosting. The children, on school holidays, were set up with their own crafts to keep them occupied. Kathryn was using a French knitting kit when she was about 5.
Kathryn attempted a jumper when in her late teens and never finished it. It was too big and that is why when she resumed knitting later she stuck to small objects. Jumpers are psychologically too big, but she hopes to shift this thinking with the Advent T-shirt. She reasons that the number of stitches in socks and some of the shawls she makes are comparable to a jumper so she is going to push through.
After the abandoned jumper Kathryn did not make anything for years but started again when a friend was expecting a baby. Now she always has something on the go. She appreciates the relaxing feel it gives her and she loves the finishing glory; having something you have made
yourself and can admire. Knitting has been shifted from a thing that is done sometimes to a thing that has to be made time for.
A Stephen West Mystery Knit Along (MKAL) from 2020 is the thing Kathryn chose as the best thing she has ever made. The large shawl is brought out of a bag. It is stunning. Its texture and form and colour combine to a perfect item. It is also large, as large as any jumper.
West’s annual mystery knit along is followed world wide. Participants are told how much of what sort of yarn with no idea of what they will be making or what it will look like. The pattern is released weekly, for 6 weeks, as Clues. The aim is to stretch the knitter’s experience and abilities, introducing them to different techniques and stitches. The items made are large, often shawls with many stitches, that can be used as scarves. The process of learning new methods is supported by the creator with You Tube videos and very good instructions. There are also virtual groups to be joined and face to face meet ups, and cast on parties.
Kathryn comments on how well written patterns are surprisingly hard to come by. Speaking the instructions allowed, sometimes to a patient partner or other family member, can do the trick of demystifying the pattern. Sometimes you have to just do each stitch as instructed and trust the process. Videos are often helpful but the viewer has to be discerning on who they watch as a short video about how to do Continental knitting may well turn into a story of the vlogger and their family. Kathryn’s tip is to look at how long the video runs for.
Joining the face to face meet up group at the Tradies on a Sunday also offers a large pool of wisdom and experience of knitting. There is always someone who has attempted what you want to learn and just being in the room listening to the conversations is helpful. This group is helpful not only with knitting but with all sorts of other issues in life: bringing up children and when they should start to pay board, how to navigate Centrelink, where is the best place to get your sewing machine serviced, or what shows, films, events are coming to Canberra. The benefits of attending a face to face group are knitting in company takes on a different dimension, and gives a lot of positive feed back. Everyone is always so respectful and positive. Kathryn tells me how diverse she thinks the group is; all walks of life and all abilities of craft.
This is not the only craft group Kathryn attends. She is also a member of the Knitters Guild NSW, Capital region group. Kathryn is keen to point out there are crocheters there too. This group is a little more formal than the Facebook group, there are committee positions, minutes and organised talks, and a big cross over between the Facebook group and the Guild. Lucy is the Treasurer. Both groups have benefits.
As well as joining groups Kathryn likes to take up new crafts. Talking to someone at the Guild she got interested in weaving. First doing a workshop, hiring a table loom and then acquiring one from a relative, Kathryn makes small things. The action of weaving uses different muscle memory and she loves the way the colours work differently to knitting. Once into the rhythm of the work she enters a Zen space.
The taking up of many crafts is an echo of her mother, ‘who did everything’. A small piece of stitching her mother made and was given away has found its way back to Kathryn. This is her treasured possession. Kathryn’s mother died when Kathryn was in her teens and she does not have many of the numerous things her prolific mother made. She is happy that the work found its way back to her and she has it to look at.
As I drive home I think about the connections thread makes in our lives; the teaching and passing on a skill, the connections, friends and acquaintances, across the world and the internet, the spider’s web of intersections, over generations is like a glue that touches us all.
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