Residents who like to knit or crochet are breathing a sigh of relief now that the Moose Jaw Public Library’s Avid Knitters Club has returned after a 16-month hiatus.
The club has been slowly welcoming back members since July when the first get-togethers were held in an upstairs room. Since then, the gatherings have been growing slowly, with six women dropping by on Aug. 17 — pre-pandemic, 16 to 18 members normally gathered — to engage in their hobby while socializing with like-minded residents.
“I really like it (being back). I missed it over the last few months,” said four-year member Fay Cocks, who was working on a toque. She started an Afghan blanket during the pandemic but did not bring it to the meeting since it was too big to lug around.
For three-year member Monica Trautmann, she was also pleased that the group had returned to in-person meetings.
“There has been too much online stuff going on,” she said while attempting to knit a nearly full-sized dachshund puppy that she would later fill with stuffing.
The downtime during the pandemic allowed Trautmann to knit together many animal-related figurines, which she joked are taking over her home. Some of the figures she created include a monkey, a pair of foxes, and a “fire cat” for a friend with cancer.
Being able to walk her dogs was also a lifesaver during the pandemic, she added, since she could chat with other pet owners while her canines romped around the park.
For Lorette Grimard, the August meeting was her first time attending a club get-together. While the other members were using wool or yarn for their creations, she was fashioning a bag out of used plastic grocery bags. Holding up her phone, she showed off such a creation she had made during the pandemic.
“It took me less than a week to create it, but I live alone and worked on it all day,” she chuckled, noting she needed almost 60 plastic bags to create the handbag.
Grimard, 81, explained that she came across the idea in a magazine years ago, with the concept coming from a woman in northeast Saskatchewan.
There are no pre-determined patterns to create such plastic-composed bags, but that’s OK for Grimard, who saw the bag and could replicate it from memory. That’s also how she learned to knit and crochet as a young girl: seeing and doing.
Grimard uses the creative plastic bags as her grocery bags and receives many questions from people curious about where she acquired the pack.
“A young fella at Superstore who helped me out was amazed too,” she said, noting she has made almost 20 such bags during the past 20 years but hadn’t created one until recently.
Grimard added that since she had many plastic bags sitting around at home, creating a bag out of that material ensured they stayed out of the landfill.
The Avid Knitters Club has met regularly at the library for almost 20 years and has completed many projects for the Friends of the Library and its fundraisers, said library staffer Christina Hinds. For example, pre-pandemic, the group created winter clothing for the Friends, while it also donated plenty of knitted materials to Phoenix Academy for Christmas.
“It’s wonderful to be back in person. I missed these ladies,” Hinds said, adding anyone interested in attending a meeting should call her at 306-692-2787.
