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Arts & Culture
PHOTO: KAREN SECORD
Close-Knit Community
Who Says that Knitting is a Solo Act?
BY KAREN SECORD
Fiona Duthie just can’t help herself. Every time she sees a
passersby proudly sporting an obviously hand-knit hat,
mitts, or scarf, she smiles.
A fibre artist, feltmaker, and storyteller, Fiona is pleased
to see the renewed interest in knitting by people of all ages.
She is especially buoyed by the fact that more and more people
are knitting in groups.
“Historically, knitting has been a social activity,” she
says. “People would get together and make something practical
while having a social time.”
Maureen Ballagh, an Orleans resident who picked up
her first needles in college 26 years ago, couldn’t agree
more. In many ways knitting has gone back to its roots but
with a wider variety of yarn choices, she notes. In fact, at one
time, in the British Isles and South America, men knit for
commerce and women knit for the household, she explains.
“The knitting movement is huge all over North
America,” notes Maureen, a Yarn Forward employee.
“There has definitely been a resurgence of interest.”
People today have so much more choice when it
comes to materials. “There are now so many different
materials besides wool,” says Maureen. “And many are so
much more versatile than wool.” Yarns made with sea silk,
hemp, shells, and bamboo are among the most exotic and
the most popular.
Knitters today are also using the craft as a reason to get
together. Social functions based on doing handiwork operate
much like a book club. Called “Craft and Chats” or even
“Stitch ’n’ Bitches,” knitting clubs run the gamut from casu-
Instructor, Carol Stewart and
young student Neve, who is eight.
al get-togethers at the neighbourhood bar to more organized
multi-craft events like those hosted by the incredibly
hip 20-somethings responsible for “Spins and Needles.”
KNITTING FOR A CAUSE
Working together for a cause has also become a big part
of the 21st-century knitting movement.
A few years ago, Fiona’s family and her sister-in-law’s family
cooperated in knitting a baby blanket. Everyone knit a
square. Collectively, they created something unique for someone
they loved. It is now a treasured part of their family story.
Blankets are one of the simplest knitting projects an
individual or group can undertake, yet they are one of the
most appreciated donations for many charities.
While Marie Belanger, public relations officer at the
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, gently discourages
knitters from donating the traditional layette sets for babies —
“we just don’t have the need for them” — blankets and slippers,
knit with love, are the perfect welcome-to-CHEO gift.
“We actually have a blanket cart that is run by volunteers,”
Marie says. “Every child who is admitted to the hospital
is offered the opportunity to select a blanket from the cart.
It is the safest and most useful thing that knitters can donate.”
Funky colours, sports themes, longer lengths, and bigger
sizes are always needed to accommodate CHEO’s older
patients.
Blankets for Canada is another group that encourages
knitters to create warmth for others. The group collects and
distributes blankets to organizations that care for those who
Due West/Due East Magazine • Spring 2008 Ottawa Page 36