A BRIDGWATER knitting group celebrated ten years of bringing like-minded people together to knit, crochet and socialise last Tuesday (March 8).
Members of the Victoria Park Knit and Knatter group, which was founded by Margaret Major in 2012, enjoyed brunch to celebrate at the community centre’s café.
The Knit and Knatter group was founded after Margaret visited a tearoom in Abingdon, Berkshire, when she was driving home to Bridgwater.
She found a group of women knitting and chatting over coffee and – as someone who enjoys knitting – stopped to admire their work.
Margaret found out the group met every week to share ideas and help each other with their craft.
She decided it would be a good idea to set up a similar group in Bridgwater and contacted Victoria Park Community Centre, who agreed to allow a new group to meet there every week.
The first session of the Victoria Park Knit and Knatter group was held on a Thursday morning and was attended by Margaret and two other women, who shared a “pleasant couple of hours” together.
To improve the group’s publicity and help it grow in numbers, its members held a stall at the Bridgwater Lions’ Fun Day at Victoria Park in June 2012.
In December 2012, the group knitted decorations for the community centre’s café, took part in a Christmas fair, and were featured in a national magazine, Simply Knitting.
A decade later, Margaret is still involved in the group with a few others who started attending in its first year.
The Victoria Park Knit and Knatter group holds drop-in sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays which are attended by around 12 people, but numbers vary week-on-week.
A spokesperson for the group said: “The ladies in the café know us so well that they have our drinks ready for us!
“We have mixed abilities. Some are learning to knit and crochet with the help others and those who are very skilled.
“We inspire each other. It is a relaxed group who are very supportive to each other with the craft and in life.”
The group’s members also attend local craft fairs and have been involved in ‘knitathon’ fundraising efforts, while some knitters craft items to sell at events around Bridgwater.
Throughout the pandemic, the group were able to communicate online through a group messenger chat and weekly Zoom calls.
When they were allowed to return to the community centre, they were provided with a well-ventilated room and socially distanced tables to comply with the regulations that were in place at the time, creating “a little bit of normality in a crazy time”.
The Knit and Knatter group's members also visit different restaurants and places to eat in the local area once a month.
If anyone is interested in joining the group, they can contact Margaret on 01278 421448.
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