‘It’s the greatest feeling’: six knitters on their all-time favourite projects
It feels important to state from the outset: I don’t knit. But like many actual knitters, at some point in my childhood my mum taught me how. I still remember the soft click of the grey plastic needles and the satisfaction of a row of neat loops of magenta wool (a shade I would have only chosen between the ages of five and 10).
With knitting, the legacy of women sharing a skill that can nurture, warm and soothe feels powerful in a low-key feminist way – even when that knowledge is forgotten, then rediscovered later via friends, online tutorials or social media.
It’s a wonderful thing that knitting is sustained by a community that celebrates participants and freely shares knowledge. Here, six knitters describe their love of the yarn – and their proudest projects.
‘I wear it out, much to the embarrassment of my adult children’
Kim McInnes knitted this jumper in 1983 as part of her high school textiles portfolio. “It took me two school terms,” says the grants and scholarships coordinator from Myrtleford, Victoria. “I would knit in front of the TV most nights and in class time, and the common room and library at school.”
She used a basic pattern for the construction, but designed the bird motif herself, inspired by the Australian designer Jenny Kee. “I drew the picture of the parrot on plain paper then transferred it to graph paper so I could work out the stitches required per colour per row,” she says.
When the jumper resurfaced in a cupboard at her mum’s house 40 years later, she was thrilled. “I wear it on weekends shopping and social occasions, much to the embarrassment of my adult children.”
McInnes returned to knitting a couple of years ago on the recommendation of a therapist, who suggested that it might help with the rheumatoid arthritis in her hands. “I was really rusty and relied on YouTube videos to get me back in the swing of it.”
‘I channel something from my grandmother when I knit’
It took Melbourne writer and editor Elena Gomez five months to master stranded colourwork, the technique required to finish her proudest knitting project.
She had to learn to knit two strands at once to achieve the coloured pattern. “This involved watching lots of videos and taking it very slowly until my fingers got the hang of it,” she says.
When she finally tried on the finished jumper, she felt a great sense of pride. “The thrill and satisfaction of that moment is something that has carried me through many hairy knitting projects,” she says.
Gomez’s mother tried to teach her to knit when she was seven, but it was only as an adult she revisited the skill using online videos and the help of a patient friend. But the family connection endures. Her grandmother, whom she only met once, was an incredibly skilled knitter in Nagpur, India. “Though I never really knew her, I feel as though I channel something from her when I knit.”
‘My dog was freezing, so I knitted a matching jumper’
Kirsty Nottle, a Melbourne senior executive in aged care service, enjoyed the pattern of this jumper so much she replicated the design for her cousin and her dog. “My dog was given a super short haircut by a groomer and she was freezing so I knitted her a matching one,” Nottle says. “It was really a joke but she gets a lot of compliments.”
The jumpers were knitted with hand-dyed yarns in varied weights. “I liked the marled colour effect you get when you change the colours you are holding together,” she says.
Although the intricacy of colourwork gets her thinking, knitting is ultimately a relaxing activity for evenings at home or a way to spend time with her social circle.
“I knit once a week with friends over morning coffee [and] with a bigger group at the pub once a month, although I usually have to take simple projects for that.”
‘I would only get one row done a night’
Like many first-time knitters, Jacinta Den Besten’s debut project was a scarf, completed in primary school. “It never really ended and also varied in width as stitches mysteriously got created and lost,” she says.
Now the senior physics lecturer looks for more ambitious projects that teach her a new technique and can’t be found in stores.
The impetus for making her patterned tunic was to do some colourwork and attempt a two-colour brioche stitch or a fisherman’s rib with ombre yarn.
Den Besten designed the piece herself, taking inspiration from her doormat. Many colourwork patterns, she says, are floral. “I wanted something more geometric.”
It took her months to complete the intricate project. “With 800 stitches per row, often I would only get one row done a night,” she says. “I also struggle to work on only one project at a time, but I find swapping between projects allows me time to think about each project and get inspired rather than bored.”
‘It’s the snuggliest, most comfortable jumper I own’
Michelle Sanger knitted her favourite green jumper in the depths of lockdown in Melbourne.
It wasn’t possible to go into a store to find the right colour of yarn, so Sanger, a studio manager of a creative agency, had to be resourceful. “I looked through my drawers for something I could unravel … [and] added a green mohair strand I had in my stash.”
The design replicated the wide neck of another garment in her wardrobe, but she wanted something that was more fitted through the body. She modified a top-down pattern (where the knitting starts from the top of the jumper) and knitted the neck first, before working her way through the sleeves and body.
It took her roughly six weeks of knitting every night, in front of the TV. “It’s the snuggliest, most comfortable jumper I own,” she says. “The colour feels so energising.”
When Sanger was a child, her mum taught her how to knit, but the skill was forgotten until Sanger had her son. “I wanted to knit him jumpers to keep him warm, so I asked a keen knitting friend for lessons,” she says.
“All these years later we now knit together with a couple of other friends once a month. It’s lovely to see what they are making or inspired by, share patterns and yarns. We have a WhatsApp group that is full of inspiration.”
‘I wear this cardigan as often as I can’
Stephanie Morrison knitted this cardigan twice. “The first time I knitted it very quickly from start to finish in six weeks,” she says. Then, “it sat in my wardrobe”.
Morrison, who works part-time as a medical receptionist, didn’t wear her creation because the colourwork section was uncomfortably tight around her shoulders.
So she decided to undo the cardigan and start again. To get the right fit she went up two sizes and used a larger needle. The second time, it only took her a month to complete.
Now, she says, “I wear this cardigan as often as I can. It’s the greatest feeling … knowing the effort I put into making it.”
Morrison knits in any spare moment she can find. “I would describe myself as someone obsessed by knitting,” she says.“It consumes my thoughts daily.”