Nattering knitters get plenty done
Knitting and nattering are the two favourite hobbies of nine Nelson women who share their creative talent with the less fortunate.
The Nattering Knitters spent five weeks creating more than 30 hot water bottle covers to gift to the Victory Community Centre, which passed them on to needy new arrivals to the region, mostly refugees.
‘‘We saw the work the Victory Community Centre was doing with the refugees, and we knew there would be a need for hot water bottles through winter as they adjusted to a new climate,’’ said Brian Kendrick of St John’s Church.
‘‘The congregation purchased a lot of hot water bottles and the Nattering Knitters knitted all the covers,’’ he said.
About half of the covers were hand- knitted with the other half sewn out of polar fleece, but all came with a hot water bottle so they were ready to go, said group member Marie Melvin.
Each cover took about five evenings to create, and the project was mostly undertaken in Marie’s home as a social occasion.
‘‘We are very grateful they chose this community to gift their wonderful hottie covers to,’’ said Penny Molnar, community nurse at the Victory Community Centre.
‘‘We are distributing them to newly arrived refugees from places like Myanmar and Bhutan,’’ she said.
‘‘The climate is a bit colder here than they’re used to.’’
This is not the first philanthropic venture the one-year-old Nattering Knitters has been part of. It has already sent a large box of jumpers, affectionately called ‘‘fish and chip’’ tops, to a children’s home in Tanzania with another 30 ready to be shipped.
The name comes from African babies being wrapped in newspaper and sent home with their parents who can’t afford clothes, said Melvin.
The group has also created beanies and slippers to donate to Auckland Point School, which shares them with kids most in need.
The knitters continue to meet socially and encourage anyone wanting to learn to knit or become involved in the group to contact them through St John’s Church.