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Show Page 8 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume IX Issue XII April 1, 2004 The Continental Way or the English Way? By Drienie Hattingh How do you do i t — t h e Continental way or the English way? That indeed was the question at the historical first meeting of the Knit Wits at the General Store in Eden. Which is the right and fastest way to do it? Of course, I pushed for the English way because that was the way I was taught to do it by my Grandmothers. It is also known as the “original” way. The Continental way came after. I never tried the Continental way because if something works fine, why change it? So, feeling like I did, I did not hesitate to share my feelings with the esteemed Knit Wits. Some of the Knit Wits looked at me with serious faces, nodding their heads in total agreement—they too did it the English way. Others were puzzled. “Is there any other way but the English way?” They wanted to know. The rest, who’ve never done it either way and came to learn how to do it, looked at us as though we were talking Greek or some Continental language. What in heaven’s name were we talking about? They just wanted to learn—they did not care which way! I explained to the uninformed ones that the Continental way was developed (some say) for left-handed people and the English way is for right-handed people. I also explained that there are those who think the Continental way is faster than the old fashioned English way. The Knit Wits (who knew) agreed that they had heard that too. And we agreed, we really did not know which way was the easiest or the quickest way. We just knew that we were comfortable doing it the way that we knew how. If my Grandmothers did it the English way, then that is the way it should be done! I did hesitate a bit when I told the Knit Wits that the English way is definitely the fastest way. I am known as a very fast knitter, but I had no idea which way was really the fastest. And I was so pleased that no one at this Knit Wit groundbreaking event did it the Continental way. I was safe! I was surrounded by Knit Wits who did it my way and those who still had to learn were very impressionable. They were waiting for me to teach them how to knit. And that was indeed going to be the English way. In October of last year, I learned about the Guideposts Sweater Project and I thought it was a wonderful idea and started knitting little sweaters, wondering to which part of the world my sweaters would be sent. It was a fun project; after all, I love knitting. In November I started knitting sweaters for Brenda and Yolandi for Christmas and my thoughts went back to when I sat knitting with my sisters or with friends in South Africa. We used to get together and visit while we knitted. We did not feel guilty visiting for hours and finishing several pots of tea because we were knitting for our families! No one could find any fault in that— not our children or our husbands. On that November day I decided I wanted company while I knitted so, on an impulse, I decided to go and have lunch at Alpine Pizza and visit with Jim or one of his employees while I knitted. I did this often, especially while Johan was out of town. I spent hours there while finishing my daughters’ sweaters. Often friends in the Valley who stopped for pizza would stop and sit with me, visiting while waiting for their pizza. “I wish I could knit . . . “ some of them said. I had much more fun sitting there knitting than at home. Then it struck me one snow day in December! Wouldn’t it be nice to have a group of women in our Valley getting together every so often to knit and, of course, to visit! As the idea started forming in my mind, I thought of the Guideposts Sweater Project. When all the mulling in my head eventually collided, I came to an incredible conclusion: there were women in the Valley who wanted to learn to knit; I wanted to knit while visiting with women; and there were needy children right across the world that needed something warm to wear in the winter! And presto—the Knit Wit Circle was born! I wondered where we should meet and realized that a neat, central place would be the newly renovated General Store! It had such a friendly and old time ambiance. I spoke to the owners and they said that we could surely meet there. They would put us knitters in the smaller room where we would have some privacy, and we could knit away. I told my friend Shanna Francis, the editor of this newspaper about my idea, and she thought it was a grand idea. She said that I should write a piece about it and she would put it in the newspaper, inviting women who could and could not knit to come and take part in the Guideposts Sweater Project. After the article ran in the paper, a few women called me or stopped me at the Valley Market and said that they are coming. But I wondered how many women would actually turn up—if any! It was one thing to say, “I would love to come.” But it would be difficult for most to get away from husbands, children, and obligations to come and sit for a couple of hours and knit! Will there be likeminded women in our Valley that had the urge to make new friends and learn to knit while, at the same time, working on a worthwhile project. Would they find the time to do it? So many times I interacted and exchanged greetings with fellow Valley women at the Valley Market and the Post Office, and sometimes we even stopped and chatted. I always thought, it would be so nice to meet them all for a nice visit. This, I thought, would be a great opportunity for that. I made the arrangements hoping, for the best. I typed up some knitting guidelines and printed out the Guideposts pattern from the Internet and— optimistically—put together ten ‘booklets.’ I arrived at the General Store and put together two tables and chairs, enough for six women. I put the booklets at each place and put the three little sweaters that I’d knitted so far for the Guideposts Sweater Project in the center of the tables. One was chocolate brown, another bright red, and the other multicolored. I also arranged for the General Store’s wonderful cook to make a plate full of their delicious “Toasted Turkey and Avocado” sandwiches—just incase any- one was hungry. I was ready for this new venture, and hoped that others would feel the need to be part of it too. It was five minutes to 6:00 p.m. when the first woman arrived. Then another, and another; by 6:00 p.m. we were six woman sitting around the table. We introduced ourselves but had to stop because another two women arrived, and we had to add another table and more chairs. Then two more women arrived and we had to add another table! We were eleven women sitting around the table! I was impressed! I did not misjudge the women in our beautiful Valley. They wanted to learn to knit and they wanted to be part of a worthwhile cause. After we finished introducing ourselves, we got our wool and needles out! Sue from The Needle Point Joint who was a seasoned knitter offered to help me teach those who could not knit. There were three of that could knit well, and three or four that wanted their minds refreshed—they hadn’t knitted in ages they said. The rest did not know how to knit at all, and that was wonderful. Sue and I started to teach these ladies how to first add stitches on and then we showed them how to knit. They had to learn to knit before they started on the little sweaters. I started them all off on a square. They had to add on 20 stitches and knit 30 rows. Exclamations of, “I will never be able to do this.” And, “Oh no! I think I dropped a stitch!” Or, “I think I’ll just sit and watch . . . “ “Why are there holes in my knitting? Is it supposed to look like this?” And, “I don’t know what happened but I started with 20 stitches and now I have 30!” were some of the comments heard along the way. And then, by the end of the night, my friend Pam, who was also knitting for the first time, summed it all up very well! “Knitting is not for sissies!” Then someone called out in despair, while looking at her knitting effort in her hands. “Perhaps I should have tried the Continental way! Perhaps that’s easier!” Mmmm . . . ? That made little hairs stand up in the back of my neck. I told her that the English way was definitely CONTINENTAL cont. on page 13 |