Fran Grant admits she’s not a very good knitter. It took her 15 years to learn how to purl, the opposite stitch to knitting that, when combined, creates a pattern in the fabric.
Thus, her initiative to create a new knitting group, Knit2gether Coquitlam, which will meet the second Tuesday evening of every month at Coquitlam Public Library's Poirier branch, is more about the social interaction the fibre art can foster.
Dishcloths and pot holders will be created, maybe even a sweater or two by more skilled knitters, but the gatherings will be a chance to meet like-minded people sharing their passion for yarns, as well as exchanging ideas and inspiration, she said.
“It’s just very sociable,” Grant said of knitting. “So many people want something to do and somewhere to go.”
Grant said the repetitive, almost-automatic, nature of knitting is conducive to simultaneous chatter.
“Knitters are pretty friendly,” she said. “They’ll talk to you about their knitting, how they made it, where they got the wool.”
Grant said she learned how to knit from her mom. She said she loved the craft’s simplicity, which allowed her to progress her skill at her own pace.
And while that skill never really moved beyond simple projects like coffee cozies, Grant said she loves thinking about the smiles she gets from recipients of her endeavours.
“You feel quite content,” she said.
Grant’s motivation to start a knitting club in Coquitlam came from her years-long involvement with a similar group in Burnaby. Like that group, she hopes this new branch will also embrace the occasional collective effort to create projects like little hats for newborn babies at hospitals, hats and scarves for the homeless or “twiddle muffs” that can help people with autism cope with anxiety.
Knitters are like that, Grant said.
“They’re doing something they’re happy to be doing.”
• Knit2gether Coquitlam holds its first meeting Tuesday, Sept. 10, 6:30 p.m., in the Nancy Bennett room at the Poirier branch of the Coquitlam Public Library (575 Poirier St.). For more information, email knit2gethercoquitlam@gmail.com.
