The sound of needles clacking and chatting were coming from the basement of the Seniors’ Hall last Saturday, June 2.
Stepping into the room, I could see big skeins of yarn on the table and a few fledgling students learning how to cast on, knit and pearl.
At the table were Shannon Heppner, Liam Legault, Hailey McLeod and Dianne Zeuch, with their fingers and needles strung with yarn, to different degrees of comfort and familiarity.
The gathering came into being after Hailey and Liam took part in CBT’s Youth Action Summit in Kimberley in May. The two returned home to Nakusp full of inspiration and ideas, and decided to organize a skill share session.
Maybe it was the sunny weather working against them, I don’t know, but in the short time I was at the Seniors’ Hall, there were only the five of us.
When I told Liam that men were the first knitters, he was surprised, and maybe a bit inspired. In no time he had cast on his twenty and was ready to learn how to knit.
While Shannon was busy with Hailey, I fumbled my way through casting on my stitches with hands that felt giant and hopelessly unskilled.
As soon as I had something resembling a base to work on, Dianne showed me a European method that seemed to match my natural inclination to hold the yarn with my left hand. Although I’m no knitter, I do crochet, and hold the yarn in my left hand.
After a few minutes, I had the basic knitting stitch, and slowly and clumsily knitted away. Time passed quickly while concentrating so fiercely, and unfortunately I had to leave before learning to purl. Next time.
