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Knitting for meaning and community with Ros Edwards · Why I Knit

0:05
Mia Hobbs: Hello, and welcome to the Why I Knit podcast. My
0:07
name is Dr. Mia Hobbs and I'm a clinical psychologist who is
0:10
passionate about knitting and its benefits for our mental
0:13
health. Each episode I interview a knitter to ask them why they
0:17
knit and how it has benefited their mental well being. This
0:20
week I'm talking to Ros Edwards. Ros is a prolific knitter who
0:24
has had a bed bound illness for the last five years. She's
0:28
turned to knitting to help manage her ME. You can find
0:31
links to Ros's Instagram and all the yarns and patterns she
0:34
mentions in the show notes.
0:37
So hi, Ros. Welcome to the podcast.
0:40
Ros Edwards: Hi.
0:42
Thanks for having me.
0:43
Mia Hobbs: You're very welcome.
0:44
And your background looks beautiful. I should just tell
0:48
the listeners that you've got all your amazing colourful
0:50
shawls in the background and a lovely knitted patchwork blanket
0:56
over the chair.
0:57
Ros Edwards: Yes, that's right. It's a cosy memories blanket
1:00
which I've stolen back from my son.
1:04
Mia Hobbs: just borrowing it. So I'd be really interested to hear
1:08
where your story with knitting began.
1:11
Ros Edwards: Well, it began really officially with him. And
1:15
when I was pregnant with him, I suddenly thought, so this was 12
1:19
years ago, I suddenly thought I need to knit, my mother had
1:23
always knit when we were younger. And I hadn't had any
1:27
interest in it until I became pregnant.
1:30
Mia Hobbs: Do you learn as a kid at all?
1:33
Ros Edwards: No, I didn't learn from her. My granny knit us
1:37
loads as well, but didn't learn from her either. But I think
1:41
some of it must have sunk in kind of through osmosis or
1:45
something. Because once I started and I was learning
1:48
through books at the time, once I started, it all felt very
1:51
natural. And I started off with a patchwork blanket, and which I
1:59
didn't finish. I was working when I was pregnant. And I was
2:03
very, very sick. So I didn't finish it. Then I had my
2:07
beautiful boy and didn't knit again then for another six
2:11
years. At which point he said to me 'you know, all those
2:17
patchwork squares you've got that didn't make it into a
2:20
blanket. Could you make me a bear? ' Yeah, sure, I'll make
2:24
you a better so I'm going to show you although the listeners
2:26
can't hear, but this is this is a very funny bear, and a very
2:30
fluffy head.
2:32
Mia Hobbs: And all made of patchwork
2:34
Ros Edwards: And it's all made of the patchwork squares. I
2:36
know, I sort of figured out how to make decreases for his ears,
2:40
but his head doesn't stand up on its own. And he's very chewed
2:43
and but his name is Bernard because everything everything
2:47
was called Bernard was my son was a baby really, for some
2:51
unknown reason. And he was Yeah, Bernard was what started it all
2:56
off. And to make Bernard I had to knit a few more squares. And
2:59
once I started knitting six years ago, again, that was it, I
3:04
caught the bug, okay,
3:05
Mia Hobbs: and I presume you had to invent the pattern yourself.
3:10
Ros Edwards: I just kind of stepped in with T shirts. And so
3:13
the things together and it was very ad hoc, but yes, very, very
3:17
loved.
3:19
Mia Hobbs: They you've still got him, that's amazing.
3:22
Ros Edwards: And so that's how I started. And then I think having
3:28
become a mother and gone back to work. I still was in that kind
3:33
of who am I am I am mother am I a career person. And I've always
3:38
liked wearing, not what everybody else wears so I've
3:42
always liked to be a bit individual and different to
3:46
everyone else. And I realised having started to get the bug
3:49
with the knitting that I could make things for myself that no
3:54
one else has. I think I went on to love crafts and found a very
4:02
difficult but I didn't know it was difficult at the time Katia
4:06
pattern, which was a poncho, and it kind of knit the yarn knit
4:11
itself, kind of fun colours. And so that's where I started was
4:17
right. I can make myself clothes that are different and that suit
4:22
my slightly different body that is now a mums body. And that's
4:27
how it started.
4:28
Mia Hobbs: Did you start making clothes for yourself quite
4:31
quickly after because I imagine that's quite a big leap from the
4:34
patchwork blanket to then garments.
4:36
Ros Edwards: And it was a shame in a way that I had started with
4:40
that pattern because it was a tubular cast on. And it had
4:43
obviously been translated from maybe German, I don't know, but
4:47
the translation wasn't great. And so I was quick, tried and
4:51
tried and ripped and ripped. And this poncho just wasn't working
4:55
for me. So I started off with the intention of making garments
5:00
and then went to a knitting group just for one session in a
5:05
local craft shop and was Wool and Gang and We Are Knitters.
5:12
And so I can do super chunky knits. And they'll be done
5:17
really quickly. So I started knitting blankets for my niece
5:22
and nephew and for my son, and for our house, which we just
5:28
moved, which none of the furniture weren't, we'd
5:31
inherited loads. And I thought rather than pay loads of money
5:34
for new furniture, I'm just going to knit loads of blankets
5:37
and make everything look nice. Yeah, that's, that's Yeah. So
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that's what I did for a good year and a half was stick with.
5:47
Mia Hobbs: Yeah. Oh, lovely. So that was how you started? Yeah.
5:53
Knitting. So you said you caught the bug. When you made the
6:00
patchwork bear, Bernard, what was it about it, you think kind
6:04
of attracted you? He said kind of making stuff for yourself
6:07
that was a bit different. And then you went in with the
6:10
blankets. Was there anything about the process you
6:12
particularly enjoyed?
6:14
Ros Edwards: Yeah, I would say, I don't know what it is exactly
6:18
about it. But knitting the squares to make the bear. I
6:26
found myself if I wasn't knitting, I missed it. And
6:31
whilst at the time, I didn't have a lot of time to knit at
6:36
all. If I did have some downtime at all, I wanted there to be
6:41
knitting in my hands. And I really missed it if it wasn't
6:45
there. And I found myself, I changed jobs trying to do some
6:52
job with less responsibility. And I used to, I started taking
6:57
buses. And on the bus, I bring my knitting with me. So I could
7:01
spend 45 minutes knitting before the day began. And in lunch, I
7:06
would knit. And I found that a lot of my job was I had to do a
7:10
lot of thinking and a lot of writing. And if there was a
7:14
problem that I didn't have the answer to lunch break, do an
7:19
hours of knitting, and then all the answers would be there for
7:22
me when I returned to my desk. So I could tell that it was
7:27
doing something to my brain. That was good. But I didn't know
7:33
what it was just so that I could I could rely on the knitting to
7:38
kind of help my brain. When I was younger, I used to play the
7:43
piano and it did similar things. That I would go with a problem
7:48
and leave the piano without being such a big deal anymore.
7:52
And yeah, very similar.
7:54
Mia Hobbs: So it's not just about feeling less kind of. So
8:00
it's not just about feeling calmer. It's almost like it
8:02
unlocks a different door for solutions as well.
8:05
Ros Edwards: Yeah, that's exactly how it felt. And it was
8:10
really brilliant. And I think the other I mean, the other cool
8:14
thing is, is that on the bus or at work, it draws people to
8:18
people come and say, you know, what are we doing and and that
8:23
was fun, you know, and to have people be interested in or
8:29
people always have their own stories they want to tell you
8:31
about their mom or their Auntie your granny. And it's lovely
8:35
that side of it as well.
8:36
Mia Hobbs: Yeah, so kind of a different way of connecting to
8:39
people. Yeah,
8:41
Ros Edwards: exactly. Exactly. I um. I didn't find Instagram.
8:46
Until I've been knitting for two years, various people had said,
8:50
you really should go on Instagram, because I think
8:53
there's quite a lot of knitters on there. And I kind of brushed
8:58
it off because I didn't want to be on my phone too much. I was
9:01
enjoying the tactile kind of analogue, being away from my
9:06
screen. But I did go on Instagram, and I started looking
9:10
at people who were knitting shawls. And I remember thinking,
9:14
why are people knitting shawls? Like what's what is the big deal
9:18
about that? So I, but I realised that there was a community on
9:26
there people from around the world, knitting beautiful things
9:29
and sharing it and that was really fun for me. I was still
9:34
working at that point. But it was like a whole new world of
9:40
people and I've been so in a very corporate world for about
9:44
20 years and it all being about money-making and selling big
9:48
contracts. And it was lovely to find a whole community of people
9:53
that were not in that world necessarily are not talking
9:56
about that world anyway,
9:58
Mia Hobbs: did it change what you knitted when you found that
10:00
community those kind of connections.
10:03
Ros Edwards: Eventually it did. And it was I remember distinctly
10:07
it was the time when Andrea Mowry's find your facial came
10:12
out. And there's quite an iconic picture of her. Taken by her
10:17
photographer, husband, I think standing in nature with her find
10:21
your age. You know, she's got her tattoos and she's, she's
10:25
beautiful. And I remember thinking, wow, this is really
10:28
cool. This is like shawls are cool. And then Stephen West
10:32
released his Vertices Unite, or he'd already released it. And I
10:36
started seeing loads of those on Instagram thinking, wow, it can
10:41
be really fun and really cool. And the colours can be very
10:46
untraditional. And that really appealed to me. So Find Your
10:51
Fade was the first show like, can I think four or five of
10:55
those? Yeah. And just just learning to play with colour and
11:02
lace and fingering weight yarn and then. Yeah.
11:06
Mia Hobbs: And in terms of why you knit now, would you say the
11:09
reasons are the same? Or have they changed over time?
11:13
Ros Edwards: Well, I was signed off sick five years ago. And it
11:19
was a very stressful time, obviously, I was the main
11:22
breadwinner in the house. And we did not know how we were going
11:26
to survive. And so as time has progressed, it was a it's been a
11:33
real stress reliever and problem solver. And now that the kind of
11:41
big stressors have eased, it's a it's a great distraction from
11:46
the symptoms I experience. Yeah, so I find now that if I have
11:52
really bad pain days, I knitting, if I'm able to knit
11:57
then it's it's distracts me from the pain and I don't feel the
12:02
pain at all, if I'm able to knit and usually I am able to knit I
12:07
feel pretty lucky that despite being sick, I can still knit.
12:16
Mia Hobbs: And it's amazing that you actually notice it, reducing
12:19
your pain.
12:21
Ros Edwards: Well, I especially I noticed that if I'm in so much
12:24
pain, and then normal medication isn't touching the sides, I
12:28
grabbed my knitting and start to knit. And then it just it just
12:35
is just distract distracts me. Yeah. I think having been in
12:42
such a fast paced career for 20 years, the knitting has given me
12:48
the chance to learn patience, and learn to slow down and learn
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to be really, really present. Which again, when you're not
13:02
well, and there isn't a kind of end in sight with the illness.
13:06
Being present, I have found has been just incredible for my
13:11
mental health and knitting. Definitely, you know, as you're
13:14
especially now I find I lean towards more complicated
13:18
patterns, things that I have to focus on a bit more. And just
13:24
the act of counting a lace pattern, for example, can be can
13:30
really keep me in the present and you know, help that really
13:35
conscious living?
13:39
Mia Hobbs: Yeah. Yeah. So that's amazing. So it feels like it's
13:43
really helpful to be able to have knitting so the projects
13:47
and feeling like I suppose when you said that it doesn't feel
13:49
like there's necessarily an end in sight in terms of your
13:54
physical health difficulties that actually having projects
13:58
that have an end, maybe that feels things to look forward to.
14:02
I'm interested in what you said about being attracted to
14:05
increasingly complicated patterns. Because I that's
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something I really relate to. And I wanted to ask about
14:13
whether all knitting is equal like, or whether you need a
14:17
certain type of knitting or you choose, you've got different
14:21
projects on the go. And some days it has to be a certain
14:24
thing or sometimes times it has to be something else.
14:27
Ros Edwards: Yeah, I think that's, that's a really good
14:30
point. And I have countless works in progress. Literally, I
14:37
can't tell you how many I have to go at the moment. And one of
14:42
them is very much a stockinette sweater in the round. I've got
14:47
several brioche sweaters on the go. And those ones are for more
14:52
days when my brain isn't working as well. Or if I'm reading to my
14:58
son in bed, or we're listening to an audiobook Yeah, we you
15:01
know, those are the those are the projects that I will go to
15:04
they're more simple ones
15:07
Mia Hobbs: is brioche in that category.
15:09
Ros Edwards: Yeah, it is now, especially if it's a brioche
15:13
jumper, which is just the same repeats in the round. Or two
15:19
round repeat. Okay. Yeah, I've done a few of those now. And I
15:24
love the texture that they create this, you know, that's,
15:28
that's the other thing is, you know, I've never until I started
15:33
knitting, done art, or I used to say, I don't have a creative
15:39
bone in my body.
15:40
Mia Hobbs: Really? That's extraordinary!
15:46
Ros Edwards: I mean, I, I feel like if anyone can find
15:51
creativity, you know, I definitely used to feel like I
15:55
wasn't creative. I felt like I was all business, all logic, all
16:01
very left brain. Can't remember which way round it is. But okay,
16:06
yeah, I can't remember. So knitting has taught me that,
16:13
that creativity can be found. And, and that I know that I
16:18
think the colour choice as well is therapeutic in itself.
16:23
Mia Hobbs: I really wanted to ask you about colour because I
16:24
associate you, you know, I first started following you, I think
16:28
probably a few years ago, and I really associate you with
16:33
somebody who knits a lot of lovely colours,
16:37
Ros Edwards: colourful. Yeah. And I've noticed that at certain
16:43
times of year, every year I graduate towards certain colour
16:48
choices. And certainly in springtime, or just before
16:55
spring, I've noticed that I've done a few sort of lilac in
17:00
green and, you know, spring type colours. And in the summer, I'm
17:06
really leaning towards the very, very bright pinks and oranges
17:09
together. Although having said that, I see, I mean, another
17:18
reason for choosing projects and colour is what I will actually
17:22
end up wearing. And as I've started knitting more garments,
17:28
I want be able to wear them with what I usually wear in a day and
17:32
I was gifted some very beautiful pyjamas last year. And I live in
17:37
bed so pyjamas is what I wear. And these pyjamas are a kind of
17:42
peachy pink colour. Yeah, so I've ended up knitting things to
17:47
go with these pyjamas because I end up wearing them. And so
17:53
that's an element of, you know, wanting the end result to fit my
17:56
need. Having said that, I love the process knit, say the
18:01
Stephen West knitalong where I can go really wild and free with
18:07
my colour choices and not think about whether I'll wear it or
18:11
not just explore colour and how it goes together in in a fabric
18:17
and yeah.
18:18
Mia Hobbs: And so that's a shawl. Is that right?
18:22
Ros Edwards: Yes, yes, yes. Yes.
18:24
Mia Hobbs: Different techniques in different sections. Is that
18:26
normally with Stephen West patterns?
18:28
Ros Edwards: Yeah. I mean, it's perfect. For short attention
18:32
spans these mystery knit alongs because it's a different
18:35
technique every few rows and and you don't know what's coming. So
18:40
yeah, I love his, I love his mystery knit alongs. I really
18:44
enjoy them. And I look forward to them every year. And
18:48
Mia Hobbs: I guess there's a sense of community along with
18:50
that as well.
18:51
Ros Edwards: Exactly, exactly. And I mean, of all the things
18:56
that knitting has brought me that is the biggest surprise
18:59
it's the community and and especially as, as my life has
19:07
changed quite dramatically from I am a natural extrovert. So
19:12
when I was working, I was just surrounded with people all the
19:15
time. And in constant communication with all sorts of
19:21
people so suddenly not having that outlet. I have found that
19:26
I've got so that I found new and like minded people who are
19:30
really good friends now around the world who I really feel like
19:37
we're there for each other when, when personal things happen. And
19:42
that's incredible to me that the knitting community can be like
19:47
that. And the kindness and generosity of spirit has
19:54
astounded me because I've not been in a world where kindness
19:58
was a value was valued.
20:01
Mia Hobbs: Do you mean the corporate world?
20:03
Ros Edwards: Exactly. Exactly. So the generosity in fact, the
20:10
cosy memories blanket, which I'm leaning against started, because
20:14
I've never heard of yarn advent calendars before. And a friend
20:20
online sent me a box of beautifully wrapped yarn, and
20:26
was like, Here you go. And I couldn't believe the time and
20:30
thought that had gone into it. And I thought, well, I've got to
20:33
make one of these blankets. Yeah, I haven't looked back.
20:36
It's not done yet. But it's, you know, it's big enough now to
20:40
kind of wrap up it and yeah, yeah, so they've just been
20:46
countless examples of that level of just quite incredible
20:51
generosity. And my mum will say that I'm a very generous soul,
20:58
myself. And I, I think when you're in the corporate
21:02
environment, you kind of tamp down on that sort of
21:06
personality. And so it's allowed me to express some of that in
21:10
return. And that's just been so joyful and meaningful. And
21:15
Mia Hobbs: that can affect your mental health as well can't it,
21:17
the feeling of doing something nice for somebody else.
21:20
Ros Edwards: Definitely. And I think now, my most treasured
21:24
projects are the ones where either the yarn has been dyed by
21:29
someone who I've met in person or online. Or has been dyed by
21:36
someone who is either Black or Brown or an indigenous maker.
21:44
And, or the pattern has been designed by someone who's a
21:49
small designer who is looking to expand their business. So I've
21:54
gone from knitting the patterns by the really big, big names, I
21:59
obviously still knit Stephen West, because I will always knit
22:02
his patterns. But in general, I try to knit patterns from
22:09
designers who are less known, just in the hope that even if I
22:14
can encourage one or two people to buy a pattern from them, then
22:18
I will have helped them along the way kind of. And you know, I
22:22
won't, I won't knit any designers that like just this
22:26
summer, I test knit for a designer who has got less than
22:30
1000 followers on Instagram, and she is an exquisite designer
22:35
Susan Lin. And it had a beautiful lace yoke, and
22:41
knitting it. I had a knitted during a time when my son went
22:45
away on holiday without me for three weeks because I wasn't
22:48
well enough to go. And I was really heartbroken not to be
22:53
well enough to go on this holiday. And worrying about him
22:57
being on holiday without me. I don't think I've been that sad
23:03
ever. And it just so happened that the day or a couple of days
23:08
after he left this tes knit started. And I literally poured
23:12
all my emotions into this project. And the fact that it
23:18
was so beautifully designed, and so intuitive. And watching this
23:23
beautiful fabric grow in my fingers. It was just the
23:29
ultimate therapy for me. And I have told the designer, Susan,
23:35
this. And I wear it so fondly. Because I feel I feel like it
23:41
really kept me together. It held me together through those weeks
23:46
that he was away and I finished it just before he came back.
23:48
Mia Hobbs: Oh, wow. did you do that? Because it sounds like it
23:53
kind of there was an element of coincidence that it happened to
23:56
be that pattern. But I suppose I'm interested in whether you
23:58
choose patterns specifically or project for a life event or kind
24:06
of in order to be therapeutic for you, if you see what I mean
24:11
or whether that was more of a coincidence that it happened
24:13
that way it
24:14
Ros Edwards: I think that was more of a coincidence i i had I
24:17
think I'd signed up for the test knit, before I knew I wasn't
24:21
going to be well enough to go on holiday. And so I'm just trying
24:27
to think if there are I certainly cast things on in a
24:34
kind of therapeutic. I need to cast something new one kind of
24:38
thing. And that's going to cheer me up and give me that buzz
24:41
because
24:41
Mia Hobbs: of the same way as someone else might have a glass
24:44
of wine or chocolate after that kind of thing. Yeah,
24:47
Ros Edwards: exactly. I mean, I go through phases of casting
24:53
lots of things on and then I go through a phase of finishing
24:55
lots of things off, but they all get finished. Yeah, they do get
24:59
finished. In the end, and I often get people saying, Where
25:03
are you knit fast, and I'm like, Well, that was already like
25:07
three quarters done. So you get the pleasure of finishing
25:11
something that actually didn't have a lot left to go. But I, I
25:15
mean, there's another jumper that I knit in the summer before
25:19
Sam went away, where I had a really big flare of my ME. And
25:24
it manifested this time in a very, very, very sore throat,
25:30
which I don't tend to get very often anymore. And I cast on the
25:35
Sea Glass Tee by Wool and Pine designs, it had just been
25:39
released. And you the way they wrote the pattern was that you
25:44
choose two new colours for every row. It's a colour work jumper,
25:49
and fingering weight. And so you're literally choosing two
25:55
new colours, every row and I got my big basket full of all my
25:58
odds and ends. And I sped through that pattern with my
26:04
sore throat. And remember knitting the pattern or than I
26:07
remember the sore throat, but I remember it being a very, again,
26:10
a very lovely distraction. And it was just so joyful. So it
26:17
stopped me from feeling too sorry for myself. And I just
26:20
spent most of my time looking at my growing fabric thinking, Oh,
26:24
look, isn't that beautiful?
26:25
Mia Hobbs: And how does it feel to wear it now?
26:28
Ros Edwards: Amazing. Amazing. Yeah, feels really good to wear
26:31
it,
26:32
Mia Hobbs: like a triumph over that sore throat.
26:34
Ros Edwards: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. But I don't know, I
26:38
think there are probably, I imagine a lot of people who knit
26:44
without needing a deep meaning attached to it. And who just
26:51
knit for the joy of knitting and for the end product, whereas I
26:57
found that, for me, there is greater joy if there is
27:02
meaning. So either if I know the yarn Dyer, or they're a small
27:07
designer, or whatever it is. I like that those are my really
27:14
treasured objects that the jumper I'm wearing today is the
27:18
Sussurus pullover by Joji Locatelli. Yeah. And this was on
27:24
the cover of Pom Pom. And it was modelled by a Black woman in a
27:28
wheelchair. Yes. And I remember when the issue came out vividly.
27:33
And I can't remember if I actually cried or if I just had
27:36
tears in my eyes. And I felt really choked up for a long
27:39
time, I felt so choked up. The issue of being guest edited by
27:45
Ocean, who is another Black woman in our industry. And I
27:51
just I remember feeling grateful and relieved that there was
27:57
there was finally some more recognition being given and paid
28:04
jobs being given to Black women in our industry. And that there
28:09
was a woman in a wheelchair on the front cover of a magazine.
28:12
And it just meant the world to me. And to you know, that whole
28:17
feeling of being seen. And I don't think I'd appreciated that
28:21
I hadn't felt seen before, but I knew that I had to knit that
28:25
jumper. And I have a really dear friend who I met through
28:31
Instagram who lives in Bristol who dyes yarn, Tracy of Somerset
28:35
Yarns and she does beautiful yarn. And so I used her mohair
28:39
for the jumper. So the whole things. My mum tried the jumper
28:44
on as well. And she looked so good in it that I had to give it
28:47
to her. So I knit myself a second one and exactly the same.
28:50
Mia Hobbs: Okay, so you have got that is yours. You haven't had
28:53
to borrow it back to wear it?
28:55
Ros Edwards: Yeah, I saw this mine. And yeah, so I mean, talk
29:00
about meaningful. Yeah, I, you know, when I put it on, also,
29:04
it's perfect for wearing in bed because it's so light. But it's
29:08
still warm enough to give me some warmth. So, yeah, it suits
29:12
lots of purposes.
29:13
Mia Hobbs: It sounds like a big part of the knitting is you kind
29:16
of showing and using your kind of values in life through the
29:21
yarns that you buy, the pattern designers you support. Yeah,
29:26
that's a big part of what gives it meaning for you.
29:29
Ros Edwards: Yeah, for me, I do recognise that I that, that not
29:34
everybody will knit in the same way as me and that's brilliant.
29:37
You know, if your knitting that was great in my book, but it
29:41
just for me, it means you know, if there is meaning the extra
29:45
meaning then I love it even more. Yeah.
29:49
Mia Hobbs: Yeah. And in terms of how it feels, it sounds also you
29:52
you kind of have that connection while you're knitting the
29:55
project. Then you can retain the connection with the garment
29:59
afterwards, and that you still get memories and reactivate
30:03
those values when you put the that jumper on.
30:06
Ros Edwards: Yeah. And I have them all stacked up on shelves
30:10
on my landing outside my bedroom. So I can see them all
30:14
really clearly when I leave my bedroom, and so it fills me up
30:19
every time I leave the room, I can see them all. And I think
30:22
when I first got signed off sick, I did have a couple of
30:25
I've had, I've had therapy several times in my life, but I
30:28
had a couple of therapy sessions on the phone. Soon after I was
30:32
diagnosed with having ME and I remember the lady saying to me,
30:38
if you can do one thing in a day, that gives you a sense of
30:42
accomplishment. And if you can try and connect with a friend
30:46
once a week, then you'll be you know, you should be okay type of
30:50
thing. Yeah. And I, I've hung on to that. And you know, even if
30:55
I'm only well enough to knit a couple of stitches or a row,
31:00
then I can I can look at it and say I did that. And that's my
31:03
sense of accomplishment ticked off for the day. Yeah. And I'm
31:07
interacting frequently with friends on Instagram. And that
31:12
is connection enough genuinely for me. So it really has given
31:17
me all I need. Yeah.
31:20
Mia Hobbs: And that's, I guess one of the things when I'm using
31:22
knitting therapeutically, the thing you mentioned first about
31:25
doing something that gives you pleasure or a sense of
31:28
achievement. And I think knitting is really good for that
31:33
in that you can do with teeny tiny amount and still have made
31:36
progress towards a thing or you know, a project
31:41
Ros Edwards: And its tangilbe. Yeah, yeah. And, again, you
31:44
know, for most of my adult life until now, I'm 45 now, and I
31:48
stopped working when I was 40. So until I was 40, I hadn't ever
31:54
done anything that was really tangible, because I was selling
31:58
concepts or management programmes or oh, you know, one
32:02
thing or another, there wasn't something I could hold in my
32:04
hands and say, Look, this is what I did or what I made. So
32:09
it's a real delight for me at this age to discover it.
32:13
Mia Hobbs: And is it art for you?
32:17
Ros Edwards: Yeah, no, it kind of is. I watched, I watched my
32:21
son who I believe he is, you know, he just can't stop doing
32:27
art in one form or another. It just pours out of him. And I've
32:32
never, I've never watched someone who is so natural at
32:37
wanting to do art. And so I look at him doing it. And I think
32:42
well, that's real art. Whereas knitting, I'm just following a
32:45
pattern. But having said that, I do look at my shawls all hanging
32:51
up. And I just appreciate the beauty of them. And I can feel
32:55
good that I made them. Yeah,
32:57
Mia Hobbs: I guess you're choosing your materials and your
33:00
colours. And so I don't know what the official definition of
33:04
art is, but you're also sounds like for you, particularly
33:08
giving meaning. And yeah, showing your values through your
33:13
work. Yeah, that's, I guess, part of an artistic process, I
33:17
would imagine.
33:18
Ros Edwards: Yeah, I can't remember. I can't remember
33:21
somebody saying, you know, if you can hang it on your wall and
33:24
appreciate it, then it's art and really, I don't wear my shawls,
33:28
because they're so less comfortable for me to wear. My
33:31
neck gets so hot, but I do hang them on the wall and look at
33:34
them and appreciate them. So yeah, I'll take that.
33:38
Mia Hobbs: I wondered about the materials actually, about
33:41
whether there was anything I don't know therapeutic or
33:44
different about different materials about the you know,
33:47
like you said about it being tangible holding in your hand.
33:50
Yeah, feels whether you've got certain, I don't know, days
33:54
where you want a certain type of thing in your hands. Like,
33:58
Ros Edwards: yeah, I would say so. Yeah. I am. I've been
34:03
knitting with sort of fingering weight mostly super Superwash
34:07
Merino, and I have a really big stash of yarn. That is that
34:14
Superwash Merino fingering weight yarn, and I love knitting
34:17
with that. It's very soft for my I got more sensitive skin now
34:22
than I used to. Having said that, I met a designer and yarn
34:29
Dyer called Marina Skua, who is on Instagram as well. And she
34:35
sources her yarn from local farms. And I bought some of her
34:44
yarn and knit a jumper called the Boskular in the spring. And
34:51
I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed knitting with non
34:56
superwash yarn well with her yarn especially yeah It was so
35:01
springy, and again, that whole kind of being present in every
35:05
stitch. Even though I was knitting in the round for a lot
35:09
of it. Every stitch I enjoyed, and I thought, wow, that I can
35:14
see why people love non superwash yarn now It didn't
35:17
feel itchy. It felt so springy. And because I've met her, and I
35:25
think she's a cool person. And I love her designs, it was her
35:30
design as well. Okay. Again, that was, you know, lots of
35:34
meaning and the fact that was, you know, local to her and local
35:37
to me because she lives locally. So I was picturing these sheep
35:41
that are not very far away from here. So yeah, definitely. But
35:47
generally speaking, I am drawn to the colour of the yarn or the
35:52
artistry in the hand dyeing first. But if it's by a person
35:58
who I either think is not promoted enough, or who I really
36:05
love, for whatever reason, then I will really enjoy knitting
36:10
with their yarn. Yeah,
36:14
Mia Hobbs: yeah. i You've shared a few significant projects. And
36:19
obviously, I can could see lots behind you. And, and we met
36:23
Bernard, but I wonder if you would tell us about a
36:27
particularly significant knitting project for you. Hmm,
36:32
Ros Edwards: well, I, I would say that the Sussurus pullover
36:38
by Joji and the Swoon sweater by Susan Lin have the greatest
36:45
meaning to me that I've mentioned. But another one that
36:50
is definitely high up on my list of significant projects is my
36:55
mum and I went to Edinburgh yarn Festival in 2018, and then 2019.
37:03
And in 2018, I went with the intention of buying yarn to make
37:09
a Telja sweater by Jennifer Steingass. And we ended up at
37:14
the mYak booth and bought yarn from mYak to make this jumper
37:21
and is quite an investment. But I'd read the story again of mYak
37:27
and how mYak was born and was amazed by the project in the
37:34
Himalayas that had created this yarn. So I got the yarn. And
37:40
before I went back to Edinburgh yarn Festival, the next year, I
37:43
met the jumper and then had a photo with Paola, who runs my AK
37:50
wearing my jumper, so that was just Yeah, super significant,
37:54
super special. And again, as I was knitting it, and as I wear
37:59
it, I was thinking of the project in the Himalayas and
38:02
what mYak have done to try and get more income back into that
38:07
community. And so yeah, that's another good significant one for
38:11
me. A knitting disaster, which turned into a success, yet,
38:18
again, is quite significant. I was entered into a yarn giveaway
38:24
by a podcaster called Shannon, who does the Whiskey and Wool
38:30
podcast and I love her podcast, she is in New Jersey. And she I
38:37
learned a lot about colour and design from her because she's
38:40
been in that industry for many years. So she entered me into
38:44
this giveaway. And we won and we each won a sweaters quantity of
38:49
yarn from Garnstories. So the yarn arrived, I decided what I
38:54
was going to knit with it, which was the Igawa sweater by Junko
38:58
Okamoto. And I think I it's a fingering weight jumper and I
39:03
knit about a half of it and then ripped it back because I wasn't
39:07
happy with the shape or something, knit three quarters
39:11
of it and ripped it all the way back because I wasn't happy with
39:13
a colour pooling and then knit it again. And now I love it, but
39:18
Mia Hobbs: You knit the same pattern?
39:20
Ros Edwards: Yeah, so it was weeks and weeks of knitting. And
39:24
I can remember my little brother just being absolutely amazed
39:29
that I'd somehow learnt so much patience because the Ros that he
39:34
knew of old would never have done that. I used to be go
39:38
karting skydiving, scuba diving, Formula One, etc, etc.
39:42
adrenaline junkie, absolutely. He just couldn't compute that. I
39:48
would do that. It's I think it's a good thing.
39:51
Mia Hobbs: Do you think that transfers outside of knitting
39:55
that you've that patience? or Yeah,
39:58
Ros Edwards: interesting. To some extent, I still would say,
40:07
I mean, I've had to learn patience through being ill. And
40:12
knitting has helped me to learn that I think I'm an
40:18
extraordinarily patient mother. If I do say so myself
40:23
Mia Hobbs: Well that's a big achievement
40:27
Ros Edwards: Well, I learned from my mum who had four I don't
40:31
know how she did it, I only have one. But yeah, I noticed myself,
40:38
because being more patient with him when I could become more
40:42
impatient. And just the reward that that brings, but I Yeah,
40:49
it's a tricky one. There's a lot of the old me that is still
40:53
there. And I'm still pretty sassy. And I still drive my
40:59
husband mad with, you know, one thing or another, as I would
41:03
have done when I was completely well,
41:06
Mia Hobbs: but I guess theres a lot you have to tolerate in
41:08
terms of the limitations of what you can manage because of your
41:12
illness. Yeah, I guess. I can't actually, yeah, it's I'm sure
41:15
it's being used up in droves in that sense.
41:18
Ros Edwards: Exactly. Like, it's a surprise every day when I try
41:21
and walk. And I can't walk as I thought I was going to walk,
41:26
it's still a surprise every day. And so yeah, you have to limit
41:34
yourself, but I think I've just learnt to sort of change my
41:41
milestones, I guess. And it has taught me to be really grateful
41:47
for the smaller or all the more important things that I would
41:53
have just taken for granted. before. Yeah. So think there's
41:59
an awful lot that I am grateful for, that I would not have
42:05
discovered had I not had to slow down completely. Yeah.
42:12
Mia Hobbs: And I think that you have mentioned so many things
42:17
already. But I wanted to end with this question. Which feel
42:23
free to mention something you've already said, but what's the
42:26
greatest gift that knitting has given you for the rest of your
42:30
life, I suppose.
42:33
Ros Edwards: Um I think the biggest gift is that it's the
42:40
community. And the the understanding that it's given me
42:47
of how important community is how flawed community can be, but
42:55
how even from bed, I can take an active part in, in that
43:00
community. And I gained so much from it. And I feel like I do my
43:10
best to give back to it. I think patience, as we've said,
43:16
already, is a big gift, especially for me. But also, I
43:24
think, especially it's that forcing yourself to be present.
43:30
And that is a huge gift. Because so much of life is so fast. So
43:40
being able to just focus on each stitch isagreat lesson in
43:46
general for for life. And, you know, I notice myself being more
43:52
present in the rest of my life. Thanks to knitting, I would say
43:57
Mia Hobbs: yeah. So it's a lot, a lot of gifts really
44:01
Ros Edwards: I mean, it is a lot. And I think if I hadn't
44:04
been signed off sick, maybe it wouldn't be as much but because
44:10
I don't go out now. And you know, it is it is pretty much
44:15
everything. So
44:17
Mia Hobbs: yeah, but I'm guessing there are actually a
44:19
lot of knitters in the knitting community who feel like it has
44:23
had a really significant role in there. Because I guess a lot of
44:30
people may be attracted to it because of finding challenges
44:35
with other hobbies or other parts of life. And there's
44:39
something that draws them to it in the first place.
44:44
Ros Edwards: Yeah, I agree. I agree. There's and I think this
44:50
the the very act of it is soothing. And so yeah, I think
44:56
when you meet other knitters, you've got that whole sense of
44:59
you know, We know something the rest of the world doesn't. This
45:02
is actually really cool and I guess
45:05
Mia Hobbs: that's part of the podcast is trying to let other
45:07
people in on the secret really Yeah. knitters, you see, you
45:11
know, knitting pins about, you know, I knit because punching
45:15
people is frowned upon or things that allude to there's something
45:19
therapeutic about it, I suppose, in a roundabout way. Well, that
45:23
was my reading of those kinds of statments
45:25
Ros Edwards: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And it's something that
45:29
is, you know, I think a lot of people are either I remember
45:32
when I was working, and, you know, a lot of people work a lot
45:35
of hours, your whole identity is tied up with what you're what
45:40
you're doing your job. And when you become a parent, if you
45:44
become a parent, your whole identity is suddenly swallowed
45:48
up with, I'm a parent. And knitting gives you an outlet
45:52
that is neither of those things. So there's just for your own
45:56
joy. And I think that's really important. You know, so I don't
46:02
think of myself as a sick person. I don't really think of
46:05
myself as a knitter, either. I, you know, I'm a person who has a
46:10
passion. And you know, I've been very lucky in a lot of areas of
46:15
my life, but I love the fact that it gives people something
46:19
other than just their career, or, you know, just the fact of
46:22
being a parent, which are great things, but they, you know, it's
46:25
nice that they're not the be all and end all, I think,
46:28
Mia Hobbs: yeah. And to have a way of, I think, yeah, the
46:31
expression of creativity.
46:34
Ros Edwards: Definitely. Yeah.
46:37
Mia Hobbs: Yeah. Well Ros thank you so much for talking to me.
46:40
And I'm sure there'll be
46:42
Ros Edwards: such a pleasure.
46:43
Mia Hobbs: people who would love to see your beautiful creations
46:46
and all your colourful shows online. Can you just tell me how
46:50
they can find you online on Instagram?
46:53
Ros Edwards: Cool. Yeah, absolutely. So I'm on Instagram
46:57
as Rosemonde. Which is what I used to get called when I went
47:03
to school in Montreal in Canada. So that's why
47:06
Mia Hobbs: so that's a Rosemonde with the second o, is a zero?
47:11
Ros Edwards: Yeah. I am not on Ravelry. But I have an account
47:19
that is still there that has old projects on there, which is
47:22
again Rosemonde. But the first zero first Oh is a zero.
47:26
Mia Hobbs: Just to keep us on our toes.
47:29
Ros Edwards: I don't know why I did that. I don't know why I did
47:31
that. But there we are. But Instagram is really where I And
47:37
Mia Hobbs: yeah. Okay, super. Thank you so much.
47:40
Ros Edwards: Thank you so much.
47:44
Mia Hobbs: Thank you for listening to the why I knit
47:46
podcast. If you'd like to hear more about how I'm using
47:51
knitting for therapeutic benefits. Please follow me on
47:54
Instagram at knitting is therapeutic or on my website
47:58
which is therapeutic knitting. If you or anyone you know would
48:04
be a great guest on the podcast then please get in touch.