Monday 14 June 2010

Woolly thinking


We've just had a great weekend at a family reunion in Stow-on-the-Wold youth hostel, which must have seen some of its most venerable 'youth' in residence for many years. A lot of B&Bs and pub rooms were involved too, but it wasn't our (genuinely) young relations beating a drum and blowing home-made World Cup trumpets on the late side in the market square on Saturday night. Had I known the level of good-natured local tolerance, I might have taken the moth trap and illuminated the Cotswolds with its glow. As it is, I'm making do with these woollen butterflies which appeared on lots of local benches, lamp-posts, wrists etc as part of Worldwide Knit in Public Day. I had never heard of this, but it was celebrated enthusiastically in Stow on Saturday, much as used to happen in the Yorkshire Dales where the cottage industry was so vigorous in the 18th century that people spoke in awe of 'the terrible knitters of Dent.' They meant terrible in terms of energy, rather than any lapse in knit-one, purl-one. Back in Leeds on Sunday evening it was pouring with rain, but my son and daughter-in-law in Mexico cheered me up by showing me some exotic caterpillars on Skype.

2 comments:

sarah meredith said...

How much do I love England?? I thought the little red poppy pins were cool, but knitted butterflies on the wrist? The best. I guess there is stuff in the US like that, but I have yet to find it! Sounds like a great weekend. xxs

MartinWainwright said...

Hi there!

Funnily enough, Penny was just saying that she thought it was all rather American! Anyway, it's supposed to be 'worldwide' so maybe there's some reference on Google to the Homemakers of Cairo, NY, sitting down together under one of the cherry trees which George Washington failed to chop down. And now here is P herself:

But then when my friend who works at Salisbury Cathedral told me she had to supervise a group of ageing hippies who danced in circles in the aisle, I assumed some of them must be American but, no, they're all home grown!

xx