RC ST

1229

— —

Ls

Wednesday |

with
Fae

by Fae Mooney.

Knit whit
The weather outside is

~.. frightful. But here, inside, by.
.. the friendly fire, it’s cozy and
delightful.

: There is something about this

: ~ time of year that makes me
“<. want to curl up in an oversized
_ .- chair in front of a glowing fire,
“and knit.

Outside the wind is howling.

.. It is snowy and blowy and
~ cold. But the only sounds in-
side, where I am toasty warm,
are a happily crackling fire and
__. knitting needles clicking
. together.

Knitting can be an art, a

a craft and therapeutic all at the
‘same time. In her book, Knil-
‘ting Without Tears, Elizabeth
Zimmerman declares that *‘pro-
perly practiced; knitting
‘. soothes the troubled spirit.”’

‘‘And,”’ she says, ‘‘it doesn’t

- .. hurt the untroubled spirit
_ either.”
Properly practiced, she sug-
gests, means knitting “in a
~~ relaxed manner, without anxie-
oy, strain, or tension.”’ Knitting -

is fun. %i is simple, direct,
creative, and silent (spelled
with a sigh), According to Mrs.
Zimmerman it should be ex-
ecuted with pleasure, inven- -
tiveness, confidence, and
ultimate pride. (Confidence and

‘ultimate pride? She has never

seen me knit.)

I am not a knitting expert. I
am not even a very good knit-
ter. But I love to knit anyway.
Self-taught at age nine, I de-
veloped a technique that has
not changed — or improved —
but it works,

Sometimes when I wander |
through Wallinda’s, Terrace’s ©
craft store, in search of inspira-
tion, I'll see those skilled and
talented ladies standing at the
front counter, knitting in hand,
fingers moving at the speed of
light. They smile serenely at
me, and I smile back. But
behind my smile I secretly
wonder, if they ever saw me
knitting, would they still be smil-
ing...

My technique i is laughable, at
best.

Food bank = continued from page 16

. job. It is a big undertaking, pur- |
’ .- Chasing the staples.”

' “We can always use more
volunteers,” she added, ‘‘‘to
help with the purchasing and

‘. preparation of hampers. It is a
wonderful opportunity for peo-

__ ple from various churches to get

‘to know one another.”’ The Ter-

race Churches Food Bank is

under’ the authority of the

Ministerial Association.
In November 1989 the food

~ bank dispensed hampers to 130

applicants (singles and families),

- up from 90 in November 1988,
“It’s hard to know if that is rele-

NIGHT
LIGHTS

Certain types of

~ For information call

direct plug-in night lights:
can be fatal to small children.

NIGHT LIGHTS WITH REMOVABLE COVER AND UNPOLARIZED PLUG
SHOULD BE USED WITH EXTREME CAUTION

A child probing the unshielded lamp
with fingers, tongue ora sharp object
may receive a fatal shock. :

|} Retailers and wholesalers must:
_. remove these products from sale.

660-6262 in Vancouver | : :

2] __orany provincial electrical inspector

vant,’ Micki Braid said, ‘‘as it
may not have been as well adver-
tised last year.”’

‘The food bank will not be
open in December because the
Salvation Army traditionally
gives out Christmas hampers to
the needy. In January, it will be
open during the week of the
15th. Financial donations may
be sent to treasurer Anne
Venema at 4623 Munthe Ave.,
Terrace, B.C., V8G 2H7. Food
donations may be left at the
churches, the Salvation Army
Thrift Store, or phone 638-1522.

_ SCREW
= SHELL

‘COVER _

a,

“Knitting Technique i is a
very grand phrase,” Mrs. Zim-
merman assures me, ‘‘and a
deceptive one... there are only
two techniques.” Only two? _
‘Right-handed (English or
American) knitting, and left-
handed (Continental or Ger-
man) knitting.’ She hasn’t seen
my technique.

Knitting has reached its most
creative phase in hundreds of
years. In fact, Mary Walker
Phillips in her book, Step-by-
Step Knitting, claims that
“thand-knitting is probably
more widely popular than ever
before in its entire history.”

And its history is long —
dating back to somewhere
around the fourth or fifth cen-
tury B.C. “It is generally
believed that knitting started
well before Christianity among
nomadic people of the Arabian
Desert,’ Phillips outlines.
From there it spread to Egypt.

Knitted items have been found |

at Egyptian burial sites. It then
travelled on to Spain, It was

_ probably introduced into

Europe by Arabs. In time it
made its way to the New World
as well.

There was a Golden Age of
knitting. During the Tudor and
Elizabethan periods it was men
who were the knitters, belong-
ing to Guilds.

“Knitting is a stimulating
craft — it can be learned
quickly, the materials and
equipment used are inexpensive
and easy to store, and you can
take your knitting with you
wherever you go,”’ Phillips ex-
tols.

Let’s look briefly at the three
most important knitting items:

Yarn. This we can divide in-
to three categories: natural
fibers of animal origin (wool
and silk), natural fibers of
plant origin (cotton, linen,
etc.), and synthetic fibers
(nylon, orlon, acrilan, etc.).

Wool is the yarn most closely
associated with knitting and is
Elizabeth Zimmerman’s per-
sonal preference: Wool, she
says, ‘is warm beautiful, and
durable... Synthetics are a

UNPOLARIZED
(blades of same width}
FTN,
fgg)
~~ /

foo)

a)

Z
~~ oar

(blades of different widths)

By Electrical

. inka of of Municipal Affairs
. Recreation and Cult ‘
Hon, Lyall Hanson, Minister

WORKING FOR THE SAFETY
_ AND PROTECTION OF
- ALL BRITISH COLUMBIANS

ie Safety Branch

ture

“Knitting: craft and therapy |

marvelous substitute, but a
substitute is all they are... It is
true that a synthetic sweater
can be washed and dried in
machines, but to me this rather
reduces it to the level of a
sweatshirt. Washing a real
sweater is akin to bathing a
baby, and brings the same
satisfaction of producing a
clean, pretty, sweet-smelling
creature — very rewarding.”

_ Needles, Year ago knitters
had a choice of woods, bone,
steel, or ‘‘luxurious tor-
toiseshell and ivory. The con-
temporary ones are usually of
metal or plastic’? — not quite
as exotic, but functional.

‘*T used to think that people
in the Olden Days were
marvelously even knitters,”’
Mrs. Zimmerman says,
‘because all really ancient
sweaters are sO smooth and
regular. Now I realize that they
probably knitted just as I do,
rather erratically, and that it is

Time, the Great Leveller, which

has wrought the change —
Time, and many washings.” -
Patterns. The most compre-
hensive book I have found,
suitable for novice and expert —

alike, I discovered at my
favorite yarn shop here in
town. It’s called the Knitting
Encyclopedia and includes

1,500 kniting patterns as well
- as a comprehensive and- concise

dictionary of knitting terms.
From this book a knitter can
design her own scarves, shawls,
baby blankets, afghans, even
placemats and knitted rugs.
And for the very talented —
sweaters and dresses, socks,
warm coats, delicate layettes,
tapestries...

If learning how to knit is a
one-of-these-days projects for
you, why not try it this winter?
Several books on knitting are
available at the Terrace Public
Library (none of which include
my unique technique). And

_ almost every store in town that

sells yarn also sells how-to
booklets.

Elizabeth Zimmerman ex-
presses her love for knitting
this way: ‘On a (dark and
stormy) winter’s night, who can
resist three or four skeins of
wool, pleading to be made into
a sweater?”’

I can’t.

Time for a facelift

Big Bertha, the bright yellow
logging tower that confronts
visitors to Terrace on Highway
16 near the Dudley Little bridge,

~ could get a facelift. The em-

phasis, though, is on the word

' “could”.

_ Terrace city council has ap-
proved a Tourism and Economic
Development Committee recom-
mendation, and city members
and local individuals familiar
with the operation of the old
spar, will ‘“‘endevor to restore
‘Big Bertha’ to authenticity”. In
addition, the group will also in-

vestigate the possibility of sct-
ting up a display to demonstra‘s
the evolution of logging in the
area.

This move by council to high-
light our local logging industry
followed a suggestion made by
local locksmith Randy Haigh.

Haigh made another sugges-
tion of how we might promote
tourism in the area, and he has
also been invited to discuss his
Hybrid Transparent Apples with
the committee. The apples.
were developed by Haigh and bi his
daughter.

Wie yrwear
= Clean wih care,’

EDNESDAY IS
DIRTY SHIRT
DAY

Men's or Ladies’ cotton blend
dress or business shirts expertly

laundered.

» Only drive-thru in town
v Best, most reliable and cleanest service
» Drop off point at Thornhill Public Market

Rickards Cleaners

8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. — Monday to Friday
6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. — Saturday
KIDDIE CORNER FROM THE POST OFFICE

Fees. gt gn,