Woolly ideas

Press, 7 October 1987, Page 29

Woolly ideas

A group of enthusiastic knitters are engrossed in making jerseys they have designed themselves.

They have just attended two classes given by Mrs Yolanda Chol-mondeley-Smith, a wellknown Australian teacher who was recently in New Zealand on a brief visit.

All of the 25 women, who came from as far afield as Kurow, were experienced knitters. However, you only need to know how to do stocking stitch to be a creative knitter, says Mrs Heather Guthrie, who owns Hands Ashford New Zealand Ltd, where the classes were held.

“The course gave the women the confidence they needed to design their own jerseys,” she said.

First they were taught how to put their ideas down on their special graph paper manufactured by Mrs Cholmonde-ley-Smith. This is available at Hands Ashford and is superior because it is life-size.

They learnt how to draw up squares and curves, then progressed to using themes such as golfing, motifs, landscapes in their knitting designs.

They even found out that photographs could be photocopied, enlarged and traced on to graph paper and then knitted into a garment From there they learnt whether a design would look good when knitted up, and how to position and balance the pattern. Mrs Ruth Duffield used curves and autumn colours for her jersey and gave it an interesting effect by using different textured yarns. Her garment illustrates how a mixture of textures is possible as traditional rules do not apply in creative knitting.

A care bear jersey is being made to order for Mrs Laurel MacDonald’s young daughter. She took the design from a child’s colouring book, an invaluable source of ideas, the women said. The small hearts on the back of the garment, make it a unique garment

Mrs Lyn Ryan is knitting a jersey with an abstract pattern centred

around clouds and a rainbow.

You can use ideas, but you do not have to follow the colours in nature, she explains.

Creative knitting is enjoying an upsurge in popularity. Heather Guthrie thinks that it stems from the tourist industry. Tourists are discerning buyers and want to purchase garments produced in a home environment, she says. She sees a gap in the market for garments with a New Zealand theme. Creative knitters are extending their talents and knitting is now valued as a craft in its own right

All three knitters are bursting with ideas for more jerseys. “I don’t think I’ll ever buy another pattern,” Lyn Ryan says.