Knit & Natter. Rachel Horne The force of wool and knitting needles should never be underestimated. Take the ladies of St John’s Hospice in Balby, a mix of volunteers and patients in partnership with the Soroptimist International who have made over 100 brightly coloured jerseys for babies in Ethiopia. This international knitting project is known as Fish & Chip Babies, as when the babies are born they are wrapped in newspaper. Another project includes knitting premature baby hats for the new born babies at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Lincolnshire Hospital. There are many similar projects throughout the borough, from the knitting of baby hats for premature babies to knitting blankets for AIDS orphans in Africa.
Knitting itself can be a great social pastime - although sometimes the natter can get quite risqué, as our photographer, Warren Draper, found when he visited the Knit & Stitch Knit & Natter group recently - which is one of the reasons that knitting has made something of a revival in recent years. It also helps you concentrate and is believed to be a fantastic stress buster. Even some high flying business men are taking up the needles, according to Liz Knight owner of Knit & Stitch. Liz’s business has expanded rapidly. Growing from a small independent company in Maltby, she now has a shop in Doncaster Market Place and York city centre. Each of her shops offers knitting and craft classes and the aforementioned community-orientated Knit & Natter groups, where anyone is welcome. As our photographer can testify, there is a warm,
friendly atmosphere and more than a few raunchy laughs. Warren had such a good time that he’s trying to get Wednesday afternoons off work so he can visit more often. He’s even thinking about starting a Knit & Natter class for dudes. Watch this space! Find more about St John’s Hospice here: stjohnshospicedoncaster.co.uk Knit & Stitch’s ‘Knit and Natter’ is Free every Wednesday: 1.00pm -3.00pm knitandstitchonline.com Cask Corner & Dive Bar run their own ‘Bitch & Stitch’ every Tuesday gigs@caskcornerbar.co.uk
Photography: Warren Draper, 2014. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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