KNITTING

Over the years I have knitted a mountain of squares on behalf of a school charity programme that collected the squares in order to make blankets to distribute among those in need during the winter. Knitting these plain squares was never particularly interesting – choosing yarns of different colours was the only variation I could enjoy. In retrospect, I would have preferred knitting the long strips favoured by the annual Hospice project.

There are few things as warm or as comforting as a hand-knitted cap, jersey, scarf or blanket. I have always wondered exactly who the recipients of these ‘charity blankets’ are and how many of them actually reach those most in need of them. Having spent many years working for an NGO, I am acutely aware of the temptations that arise with every arrival of boxes of donated goods.

The yen to knit would wax and wane with nothing to show for it. I had become ‘squared out’ and I cast around for a knitting project that would be both creative and useful. Ideally too, it wouldn’t take too long to complete. I scanned the internet to find a suitable pattern for a woolly hat. After fits and starts, I found one that worked, so bought yarn to knit a hat for my youngest granddaughter. I completed it satisfyingly quickly – although I had to remind myself how to make a pompom!

My plan was to deliver it on my next trip to Cape Town. My daughter asked me to knit one for her son too, which I did with pleasure. Then she wanted one too … I took all three to Cape Town sometime later.

I thought that particular project was over until a few months later when my brother told me of a woollen hat he had purchased that had started to unravel once he had removed the pompom. As I had yarn, I decided to surprise him with a hand-knitted one. The courier fees cost three times more than the yarn would have. It had been a fun project though.

Another ‘order’ came through: would I knit one for my son-in-law? Once that, my fifth, was complete I filed away the pattern, still thinking that such hats would make a good charity project. At least they are useful, warm and personal: once you receive a hat it becomes yours. The thought lingered for a while and then died away. To knit hats for charity meant that the spectre of the pressure to produce them in great quantities would rear its head once more. I am not in that league. I want to knit for pleasure and not as a ‘production line’.

The itch to knit would rise; I would check out free patterns on the internet; and once even considered knitting a tea cosy. I actually started one and then unravelled it. The needles stayed put as I continued to busy myself with other projects.

Despite my enjoyment of gardening, reading, writing and watching birds, there remained an unfulfilled spark of creativity that needed to be fanned to keep it alive. It is far too easy to feel ‘squashed’ by the constant need to get the laundry and ironing done along with cooking and general housework. I seldom have sufficient unbroken time to devote to the writing I would love to devote hours to …

Which brings me back to knitting. I happened to see a pattern for a square with a motif of a camel on it in a newsfeed. Searching online, I found these patterns, each bearing a whole variety of motifs.

I knitted one with a bee very quickly, followed by a dove. This was fun, quick and easy. What would I do with them? Squares in the same series containing the letters of the alphabet inspired me to knit a blanket for my four grandchildren, each with their name on it.

Little did I realise at the time what a labour of love this would prove to be! The first two blankets were sewn together while my Cape Town grandchildren were less than an hour away from arriving on my doorstep. The last two were sewn together the night before my Norwegian grandchildren arrived!

To my joy, the ‘Granny blankets’ have been well received – and I feel satisfied and ready to tackle the next project should one wink at me.

 

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