Knitting for meaning and community with Ros Edwards

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