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For the love of knitting

For the love of knitting

We recently met with Beryl and Joyce to speak to them about a project they’ve been working on. The ladies met at a Knit and Natter Group where Joyce was volunteering and Beryl was a member of the group as a resident at Larchfield Community.

Beryl has so much energy and vigour and was proud to tell us she had recently celebrated her 70th birthday! We asked Beryl what she enjoys doing; ‘I really like knitting its very relaxing – I like to sit down with a cup of coffee and knit. I do craft, knitting, ceramics and on a Tuesday afternoon I stay in my lovely flat and clean – I love cleaning. On a weekend, I go out for dinner with my friend and my boyfriend comes to visit and we go out for dinner too.’  Beryl was also excited to tell us about her cat; ‘Sooty is gorgeous I love my cat so much.’

Joyce is a retired Community Nurse, she spent many years caring for people in her work, and she told us  how she felt when she retired –  ‘I felt useless, I had spent so many years caring for people and it’s difficult to just stop – I wanted to keep helping people.’

Knit and Natter

Joyce found out about the Knit and Natter Group and started to volunteer. Joyce has always enjoyed knitting, ‘When I was a young girl, they taught us knitting in school so it’s always something I have been able to do and really enjoy.’

From volunteering at the Knit and Natter Group Joyce started volunteering on a regular basis, a couple of times a week in the craft workshops. ‘I really enjoy supporting people to learn new skills and develop. It’s about enabling people to meet their full potential. I also get so much out of it – I feel great knowing I have helped someone move forward.’

A shared passion

From a joint love of knitting Joyce and Beryl have become good friends – they both spoke so fondly of one another. I asked Joyce what she thought of Beryl’s knitting skills ‘Beryl is very good; she has a good eye and knows when she has made a mistake – she will point it out to me.’ Beryl said, ‘Joyce helps me if I drop a stitch. I really like spending time with her, she’s lovely.’

Giving back

Beryl and Joyce have been working on a project with Innocent Smoothies – the company sent out knitting patterns hats that would fit on the top of their smoothie bottles – for every bottle sold a percentage would go towards Age UK – this sparked the interest of both ladies and they set to work. Beryl told us; ‘I could make two hats in one-afternoon session. I really enjoyed doing something for someone else.’

Joyce told us about other projects her and Beryl work on for Camphill Village Trust fundraising, ‘At Easter, we knit little chicks and put chocolate eggs in them to sell in the Larchfield Shop – the money we make goes towards helping  the workshops and they are so popular.’

Well done to Beryl and Joyce you make a brilliant team!

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