
Dear Readers
There’s been lots going on this month and I’ve very much enjoyed chatting to many of you. One of my first calls was from Sue Castro, who was busy doing some late spring cleaning. She’d found a news sheet dated 1871, thought I’d be interested and sent it to me. I was just as spellbound. It was clear the person writing it knew lots about locomotives, but found it hard to both understand and explain how a circular sock machine might work. I think you’ll also be fascinated and it will surely bring your daily chores to a halt for the day!
Jean Pugh from Whitfield MKC in Dover has kept in touch for most of this year, as she’s a volunteer at the East Kent Mencap ScrapStore. You’ll read in Clubline that she’s teaching machine knitting to people with a learning disability, learning difficulty or autism. She’s using a Brother Convertible she borrowed from a friend and it’s an essential part of her teaching. Thanks to Jean’s dedication her students have grown their creativity, gained confidence and developed invaluable skills. However, it’s not easy for many of them, as they don’t have the best dexterity and eyesight. We all know that mid-gauge and chunky machines make it easier to see the needles and move the stitches. So, if your knitting room has one too many machines and your stash would benefit from downsizing, please consider a donation to this very worthy cause. An old chunky machine would be wonderful, or something newer such as an LK150. Jean could then use DK, Aran weight and chunky yarn, as it’s much easier to see the stitches and handle the knitting. If you’ve odds and ends of thicker yarns in your stash, she’d use every inch of it.
Although East Kent Mencap is affiliated to National Mencap, they’re independently registered, governed and self-financed. So if you’d like to support Jean and her splendid work, please make donations directly to East Kent Mencap at Foresters Hall, Meeting Street, Ramsgate, Kent CT11 9RT. Call 01843-808964 for details, or visit www.eastkentmencap.co.uk
Stop press As this issue goes to the printer, I pass on the sad news that Ann Brown has died. Older machine knitters will remember her Posh Frocks designs and, I’m sure, join me in sending our condolences to her family and friends.
NEXT ISSUE August 2025
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