Seniors warm heads with ‘half-hour hats’
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/01/2024 (767 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Amid laughter and curiosity with people leaning in to see the new knitting machine at work, warm winter hats are being cranked out at Brandon’s Rotary Villas retirement residence.
The toques that are being made by some of the ladies are not created with two hands and knitting needles, but with a one-hand, crank system, says Joyce Scantlebury, Rotary Villas’ recreation and wellness co-ordinator.
“You manually thread it or cast on and then you turn the crank handle, and it knits for you,” Scantlebury said. “You turn it around and around and around, and it knits a tube. When you are finished, you cast off, hang onto a piece of yarn, pull, and that’s the top of your hat.”
Some of the toques knit by residents at Rotary Villas at Crocus Gardens.
The knitting machine has only been at Rotary Villas for a few weeks, Scantlebury said, so they’re still experimenting and trying to figure out some of the finer details like getting the tension just right and being able to switch colours mid-stitch.
But so far, it has been a big hit, Scantlebury added. The ladies have made half a dozen toques and nicknamed the project “Half-Hour Hats.”
“They just can’t believe it — all of a sudden, they have this hat in their hands. Then they finish it up, put a pompom on top and it’s done,” Scantlebury said.
Another big fan of the half-hour hats is Samaritan House Ministries. The non-profit will benefit from the dozens that will eventually be donated.
The goal is to keep cranking them out — and by the fall of 2025, they’ll have 100 half-hour hats to hand over, which is great news to Marcia Hamm-Wiebe, Samaritan House’s food bank co-ordinator.
“We’re very happy that they’re interested in supporting people who need to have warm heads,” Hamm-Wiebe said. “This knitting machine is a new twist on their community engagement, and it looks pretty engaging, but also low barrier and easy to do.”
The connection between Rotary Villas and Samaritan House is strengthened by Sylvia Barr, who volunteers at the food bank.
Over the past several years, Barr said she and other Rotary Villas residents have knit, crocheted and donated more mitts, scarves and hats than she can count.
The new knitting machine means that people who can’t knit anymore will still have the chance to take part, Barr said.
Grace Flynn, a resident at Rotary Villas at Crocus Gardens, knits a toque using a Sentro knitting machine. Flynn and a group of other residents at Rotary Villas knit toques for Samaritan House Ministries. They also make scarves, mitts, dish cloths and baby blankets. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
“There are people who are no longer able to knit by hand for various reasons,” Barr said. “Now they can. And the real kicker is that you have a useful product at the end while contributing to the community. So, we’re doing something fun and useful.”
When Alexandra Town heard about the machine, she came down to the lobby to see for herself “how the heck are they going to do a hat in half an hour,” she said as she laughed.
“It’s remarkable, especially when I’m not able to hold needles anymore. But I sure did a lot of knitting — I used to do cardigan sweaters, curling sweaters and I also crocheted. I liked doing that,” Town said.
Rotary Villas’ knitting machine has 48 needles, which is best suited for creating adult hats. There are other models with 40 and 22 needles, fit to make hats for children and dolls.
There are two settings on the machine: tube or flat. The tube can be used for hats, gloves and rag dolls, and with the flat setting, scarves, sweaters, pillows and bags.
Resident Marilyn Ross said they could also make head bands or a neck cowl.
“I think this is great. I can still knit, just not as well as I used to. But you know, as we turn the handle, we’re all going to get this huge Popeye muscle on the one arm,” Ross said as she laughed.
The machine has even created a knitter out of someone who was a diehard crocheter.
“I love it, because I hate knitting,” teased Grace Flynn as the other ladies laughed. “I crochet because I can do one item in an afternoon, compared to maybe four days to do the same amount in knitting.
Rotary Villas at Crocus Gardens residents Alexandra Town, Sylvia Barr, Grace Flynn, Marilyn Ross and Denise Earl, along with Rotary Villas wellness co-ordinator Joyce Scantlebury, gather around the new Sentro knitting machine they use to knit toques for Samaritan House Ministries. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
“But, I made one toque already. So, there was about 20 minutes of actual knitting, then 10 minutes to put it together with the pompom and then fix the little brim.
“Hence, half-hour hats,” Flynn said.
As Scantlebury threads the needle used to cast off the stitches on the knitting machine, she said the residents are having so much fun that a second knitting machine has been ordered.
» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com
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