I took some sneaky time off from my day job yesterday.
When I say sneaky, it wasn't really, the environmental consulting company I currently work for has recently instituted "Life Days". We can allocate one day per quarter that you can take to do "life stuff".
I quietly* think its actually kind of an attempted trade-off for a few not so great things about the corporate aspects of heritage consultancy, but it does come in really handy when you want to do something that occurs during normal working hours, like volunteer or attend an event at your child's school without using up your precious annual leave.
What did I do with my life day this quarter?
I went to a regional group Country Women's Association (CWA) meeting as a delegate (representative) for our local branch (and I know what you are thinking, no, we are not at all like Esme Hoggett, well not the majority of us but I can definitely assure you that none of us left our husbands at home with a magical sheep herding pig).
I caught a ride with a fellow CWA member Beryl, who is a semi-retired farmer and current president of our little CWA evening branch. This quarter's meeting was to be held nearby so we only had a half hour drive which meant a not-too-early start to arrive at the allocated meeting place, a little country town hall, by 9am.
For those who don't live here, New South Wales is a really big place and while there are 30 regional groups, each with their own smaller branches, the regional groups can encompass huge areas which means that for some meetings, you often need to head out before sunrise.
I do love a good old-fashioned Australian country town hall.
All old fibro or weatherboard and corrugated iron, sometimes with a slight lean and uneven wooden floor. In contrast they invariably have a fabulous kitchen, with appliances provided through hard fundraising by groups of dedicated local community members with meat raffles and sausage sizzles, or perhaps a classic chocolate wheel at the local show or country league football match.
I packed the essentials, water bottle, hairbrush, lipstick, a little donation monies towards our lunch and morning tea, some small change for the inevitable door raffle and a small inflatable cushion in case the hall only had those awful hard on the vintage bottom fold up chairs.
As with any meeting where it is required that you sit still and listen for any length of time, I also took my knitting.
Unlike some events, at CWA meetings it is not looked on as impolite to pull your knitting or crocheting from your handbag and stitch away.
There is however, some etiquette to crafting at these meetings.
1. Your project should be of a size that doesn't require a large carry bag that will take up extensive space under the table or become a trip hazard beside your designated chair.
2. Your chosen project must be something that can easily be set down for a few moments while you applaud a guest speaker or raise your hand to vote on life changing matters such as providing a bursary to the local school, which charity to support for the coming year or whether the lamingtons for next months cake stall should all feature chocolate icing or if perhaps some may be dipped in pink and contain a little blob of Sharon's strawberry jam (it did win first at the local show for the last five years running you know).
3. As per etiquette item 1, your chosen project must also be of a size that does not require extra long knitting needles that force you to "chicken wing" and elbow your neighbouring delegates or take up valuable table top real estate (table tops are required for cups of tea, trays of slice, the odd notebook, raffle books and luncheon plates).
4. Your chosen method of crafting should not be noisy, excessive clacking, clinking or snipping is definitely a no-no.
My go-to knit these days for any car, train or bus trip and meetings longer than 10 minutes either in person or online is socks.
Small, portable and knitted in the round so there is no requirement for scissors or darning needles to be carried. I have made so many pairs for family members now that I can easily measure length using the length of the fingers on my left hand (for example my thumb from second knuckle to tip is 1 inch or approximately 2.5cm while my index finger from first knuckle to tip is 3 inches/7cm and the diagonal distance between them when fully extended into an "L" shape is is 6 inches/15cm).
Shortly after arrival, greetings at the door, sign ins, raffle ticket purchases and collecting our first cups of tea with optional (who are we kidding, compulsory) selection of slice for morning tea, we found our seats at one of several long, well set tables.
I quietly removed my needles and a ball of lovely heather green Knit Picks Stroll fingering weight yarn I had been gifted for Christmas last year and began to cast on for a pair of men's socks (aka Stinky Shearer's Socks) as our regional group's president stood and began her welcomes.
This is the same basic pattern I have used for well over three decades now, originally knitted in thick handspun yarn for my Dad to wear while shearing (hence the name "Stinky Shearer's Socks). I've lost the original handwritten pattern, given to me by the wife of one of the property owners where Dad was shearing in the late 1980s or early 90s, but have over the years made many copies.
I have knit these socks so many times in the past that I know the pattern by heart and it is now easily adjusted to suit varying leg and foot sizes, as well as thickness and ply of yarn.
They are always knit on one of my sets of lovely vintage nickel-plated steel double pointed size 14 needles. I don't remember exactly where I got the set in the picture, but am fairly sure it was an Op Shop (thrift store) around Deniliquin circa 2018 or thereabouts. While they are metal, the small gauge means that they don't "click-clack" as I knit in the round.
Several ladies stopped at my seat during elevenses and at luncheon to comment on the colour, show off the project they had brought along or to comment on the benefits of knitting socks on circular versus double pointed needles.
I saw several scarves, a lovely fluffy white jumper and some extremely delicate crochet lace handkerchief edging in progress throughout the day. I do wish I had stopped to take some photographs, however the conversations felt far to lovely to interrupt at the time.
By the time meeting was adjourned at around 2pm, I had completed the cuff and a few inches of the leg on the first sock of the pair.
In the original pattern the leg and foot were plain smooth knitting (see the picture below of a pair I knit for the tolerant fellow from thick handspun for "house socks" last year), however over the years of knitting socks for shearers and hikers, I have modified it to include some purl stiches here and there. The original pattern was derived using thicker handspun yarns which have a slightly bulkier texture, so adding a few bobbles helps to stop the socks slipping in your boots when knitted in more modern, much smooth machine yarns.**
Do you craft at meetings or in the car? What's your go-to project? Drop a comment on this post or on my socials (just hit one of the buttons in the site footer or search @vintagemegknits on the insta-stalk or face-lurk).
* Is the international (aka interwebs/internet) a quiet place? Hmmmm....pretty sure that's debatable. I'm sure someone, somewhere will see that line and report it out of context to someone who knows someone who is friends with someone's third cousin twice removed who has a brother that married someone related to one of my employers (and yes, I am very definitely chuckling sarcastically to myself as I write that).
** After a lot of requests, I do plan one day to publish the pattern in multiple sizes with all the different variations, but that is a post for another day. I will revisit this post and update it with a link to the pattern once done.
*** Please note that while I have linked several sites throughout this post, I am not an affiliate of any of the sites mentioned and links have been provided for information purposes only. I do not make any monies should you purchase, however feel free to do so should you please. The CWA in particular has a lovely selection of cookbooks and proceeds are used to support Australian Country Woman, their families and communities either directly or through CWA donations to a range of charity organisations.
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