MARGARET RICE
I never professionally trained in my skill, I started knitting in the first lockdown as a means of dealing with anxiety. Someone had told me that the methodical rhythm of it could be helpful so I gave it a go and I was instantly hooked. I started by reading patterns online and old craft books my mum had in the house and a lot of tutorials on youtube and then once I understood the basics I just started trying to work it out by myself. I laid my favourite jumper on the floor and tried to work out how I could make it. I started in full lockdown when I couldn’t go and ask people to show me how to do it so parts of it I just made up on my own. Now I love going into haberdasheries and asking the mainly old women who work there for tips on how to improve my skill. I love the thought of these women learning from women before them and that chain going back generations.
“I love the feeling of making something with my hands that will be a piece of art but also something that someone will wear. For me clothing is so important, both as a form of self expression and a feeling of comfort and warmth.”
My mum has always been an amazing sewer, she mainly makes these huge beautiful patchwork quilts with appliqué lettering on top. In the lockdown it was how we spent most of our time together, sitting there, occasionally chatting or watching a film or listening to the radio but quite a lot of sitting in silence working on our own crafts. I loved the feeling of being two women sitting there both doing these ancient skills that people, mainly women, have been doing for so many centuries.
I have jumpers that I have had for years, some that my mum before me had for years and some that women have had for generations. There is one old fishing jumper that me and my mum fight over that was knitted by my great-grandmother and has been darned by my mum. Hand knitted garments are so loved, both in the process of making them and the way you wear them and I love the thought that I am giving that to the people that buy my vests.
Each vest I make takes between 8 and 10 hours to make, depending on the intricacy of the design. But there are also the hours that go into the designing itself. I like coming up with new designs and they are often inspired by poems or texts I have read and art I have seen. When I am coming up with a new design I often have to try and listen to the right music to go with the text or image I have found that is inspiring me, I love the whole process of it.
