Location – Bolenowe Men’s Institute, Bolenowe Village, nr Troon, Camborne. Experts – Denise Marles and Julia Hopson Participants - Sue Radmore, Kay Bayes, Julie Smith, Ann Szoka, Tony Wheeler and Sheila Kestle
Knitting was once a huge part of Cornish culture; wives and mothers would knit Cornish Ganseys for their husbands and sons to use while fishing. The garment was very difficult to knit and required a great deal work so the women would knit in groups, often outside. The Ganseys were not only essential for warmth and keeping dry but they were also a means of identification, each village would have its own design for the top section of the front panel which, along with a man’s initials sewn under the each arm provided an important way of identification should they be drowned at sea.
Julia Hopson of Knitwits in Penzance and co-founder of Cornish Organic Wool talked about the community that this knitting activity generated as well as the benefits of using local wool and sustainable and ethical methods of manufacturing clothing, before Denise Marles, well known spinner and knitter led a drop spinning and knitting workshop for a group of various abilities.
