Knitting club presents tapestry

The recent unveiling of a knitted tapestry in Kilcullen Parish Centre was something of a dual celebration. The event was the first anniversary of the Suas Knitting Group, and also a marker for the opening of Positive Ageing Week.

The group was set up in Kilcullen as one of the initiatives from a Positive Ageing Information Day organised last year by the parish's pastoral worker, Hannah Evans. Their tutor is Eva Kavanagh, who also runs knitting groups in other towns in mid-Kildare.

The tapestry is a representation of a church stained glass window, with a garden outside. In addition to the window components, more than 180 'bricks' were knitted individually, along with many flowers and birds.

"Even the 'cement grouting' between the bricks was all knotted as individual pieces," says Eva. "Apart from being the picture that it is, it also represents a community doing many small things to make something big."



The effort was also done 'in the blind' as the 10-strong group weren't shown any picture of where they were going.

The 7'x4.5' tapestry was the group's main project for the last year. For the current session they are working on smaller things, including making socks for charities, a special Christmas project, and in the new year they will be working on knitted caps for new-born children in developing countries.

Brian Byrne.


(This piece first appeared on the Kilcullen page of the Kildare Nationalist.)