A rolling roster of about 20 knitters plus one spinner, one crocheter and an old dog named Petal gathered at the Alexandra Public Library on Saturday (June 10) for Worldwide Knit in Public Day.

Library coordinator Helen Rendall, herself a knitter, said the library has hosted the event for at least five years and also hosts Yarn Together each Thursday from 11am until 1pm.

“It’s about bringing people together with shared interests,” she said. 

“We’ve had people just learning or struggling with a difficult piece and the others help them out.”

Worldwide Knit in Public Day was started in 2005 and had spread to 57 countries by 2016, its website states.

Those working with yarn on the day were all women, although one man stopped by to say he knitted socks for his family and he might come back for Yarn Together. 

Amanda Hore and Tracey Canning travelled from Ranfurly for the event, having had their local celebration on the Friday when the Maniototo Arts Centre was open.

Amanda said she had been knitting since she was 11.

“Every weekend when I went to stay, my nana gave me wool and needles.

“I collect Fontans knitting patterns because they were the patterns she had.”

Learning from mothers and grandmothers was a constant memory for the knitters, several of whom have passed the skill on themselves.

“I took it up seriously when I was 14,” Tracey Canning said. “It was my mum who taught me and she still knits.”

“Two of my girls knit. I love dyeing and spinning wool as well. My daughter has a mini flock of Gotland sheep.

“Basically, if you sit, you knit,” she said. 

“If I sit in my Lazy Boy chair, my grandson picks up my project bag and brings it to me. He’s been doing it since he was about two.” 

Robyn McGregor, left, Anne Davies and her dog Petal at Worldwide Knit in Public Day. Petal is a former “employee” of the library in its Reading to Dogs programme

Robyn McGregor recalled a group of girls knitting at school during their break times, and Anne Dougherty said she had been told off for taking her knitting to meetings.

Raelyn Paterson said she started when only four-years-old, after pestering her mother to teach her.

At the moment she probably had “about a dozen” works in progress, she said.

“I have a suitcase that I’m scared to open.”

For her and others at the event, knitting together was a way to enjoy “the company of like-minded people”.

For the library, such gatherings are also about promoting libraries as a hub for all sorts of things, not just for books, Helen said.

“To connect, inspire and captivate is what we want to do in libraries.”

PHOTOS: The Central App