Woman Knits Toys for Tots and to Ease Parkinson’s Symptoms

Sometimes you come across a video that just makes you smile. Sometimes you come across a video that makes you glad you’re a knitter. And sometimes you come across videos that make you do both. Such is the case of this video today, about Thelma Parkinson who not only knits toys to donate to kids in need, but also knits for the therapeutic benefits.

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Thelma Parkinson has been knitting for fun for more than 80 years – but now her favourite hobby is keeping a debilitating disease at bay.

The Te Aroha 88-year-old was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease about three years ago and says knitting is the one thing that stops her from shaking.

“My son said to me one day, ‘Mum your head keeps shaking’ and I said ‘no it’s not’ and he said ‘it is Mum, you do it all the time’.”

”So I thought I better see the doctor and sure enough – Thelma Parkinson has Parkinson’s,” she laughed.

But while the disease is no laughing matter, Mrs Parkinson is thrilled that deserving children around the Waikato are reaping the rewards of her condition ”because for some reason knitting stops me from shaking,” she said.

Her doctor believes the relief from shaking comes from the focus required to knit.

”My brain is concentrating on the knitting so the symptoms seem to stop.”

That comes in handy when Mrs Parkinson wakes in the night from excessive shaking.

”I’ve been known to sit there in the dark and knit away quite happily until I fall asleep again – I’m pleased no-one comes in and sees me because they would probably think I’m daft,” she giggled.

The result is a virtual production line of expertly crafted children’s toys that are bagged up and taken to charities such as St John, Salvation Army, Child, Youth and Family and Adoption Services.

If you’d like to learn more about knitting and how it can help people with various conditions, go check out the wonderful website Stitchlinks.

Also, thanks to Crafty Magazine for this lovely interview they asked me to do recently. So very flattered!

Knitting, History, the War, and the Internet.

Knitting and the internet are like peas in a pod. They just seem to fit together so well, zeroes and ones of code, plus the knit stitch and the purl stitch equals win. There’s a lot online about knitting (which is the best) for the war (which is the worst) currently, but there’s also a ton of stuff online about knitting for other completely crappy wars, too.

So today, here’s a little look of what you can find regarding knitting, the war, and well, more knitting. (Except for the last two, they’re just war-related old-timey awesome.)

The title pretty much says it all. Here’s a gem of a clip from Cary Grant’s 1943 movie, Mr. Lucky:

Many thanks to the consistently awesome Step for sending this to me!

Along with Cary Grant knitting for the war, there are other weird knitting in pop culture references from times gone by for the war:

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Verse 1:
Pretty little Kitty’s got the patriotic craze
Knitting scarfs for soldiers day and night
Silly little Billy now is spending all his days
Watching Kitty knit with all her might
She even knits when out in his canoe.
She knits while Billy tries to bill and coo.

Knitting and sheet music and war seem to have gone hand in hand, as you can see here from the University of Iowa sheet music collection:

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You can find more information about knitting for the war by either clicking here or clicking the photo below.

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This cute photo is from here, which includes some insanely awesome information about WWII and the home, rationing, along with a worksheet on how to teach kids about making and mending.

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It also includes this awesome poster.

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And this one is unrelated, but well, messed up, and amazing. This link will take to you the awesome collection of historic (some knitting related) sheet music at the Duke University Library.

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A Little Bit of Prisoner Knitting: Pre-1920

Over the years, I’ve amassed quite a large collection of craftivist, activist, and therapeutic craft photos, essays, and resources from various searches online. Many of them I’ve shared here, but not all by a long shot. It’s photos like this that truly pique my interest in what we can do with craft. The links below need more research, but nonetheless, I wanted to share them, as they are definitely exciting!

On the Library of Congress>website, this is filed under “Prison education.” And I wonder, what was the greater plan here?

Don’t get me wrong, I highly value knitting and the skills it brings. However, were they planning on doing custom work like the incredibly talented inmates who work with Fine Cell Work? Or was this mislabeled under “education?”

The photo above is the twine plant at Wisconsin State Prison in Waupun, Wisconsin. As you can see below, this was clearly dedicated as a source of revenue, and, it an incredibly different type of activity than knitting by hand. However, a “knitting industry” is mentioned below, too.

“1862 – A cabinet shop is opened in the prison. In the next ten years, the prison will add a shoe shop, a tailor shop, a wagon factory, and an expansion to the cabinet shop for other furniture and chairs. By 1878, the revenues will be sufficient to allow the prison to run without drawing appropriations from the state’s treasury. A knitting industry is added in 1893, a twine plant in 1912, a cannery in 1915, a license plate operation in 1917, a print shop in the early 1920s, and a laundry in 1940. The laundry, license plate, wood and metal furniture, printing and signage, silk-screening, and tailoring operations survive to this day at the prison.”

Going further back in history, check out this, which needs further research for sure:

“The First Poor-House Erected: In 1734, the first poor-house was erected on the site of the present county court-house. It was forty-six feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and two stories high, with a cellar, all of gray stone. It was furnished with spinning-wheels, leather and tools for shoemaking, knitting needles, flax, etc., for the employment of the inmates. All paupers were required to work under penalty of mild punishments, and parish children were taught the three “R’s” and employed at useful labor. The house was also used for the correction of unruly slaves. A vegetable garden was laid out near the house, and the inmates cultivated it for the use of the institution.”

KnitRiot Knits ’em, Leaves ’em and Warms up the Needy

Below is a lovely little video about a Los Angeles group called KnitRiot who makes crafty items and leaves them for the needy to find and take. How wonderful is it to make something full of intent and care and love and then leave it for someone who needs it to take by placing it near a homeless shelter?! As you’ll also see in the video, they also placed a tree sweater on one lucky tree, placing various items to craft with for passersby to take… And most beautifully, when they returned to the tree, they found thank you letters for leaving craft supplies.

What a wonderful world, indeed.

[Apologies for the giant video, but there wasn’t a resizing option…]

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For more photos and information about KnitRiot, check their website: http://knitriot.blogspot.com/

Also, check out the LA Times article about them over here.

Craft and War, Old School

Whenever I’m in need of inspiration for something, I can always count on the past. And if you do as well, and you’ve never had a look at the Library of Congress online collection, you might want to. All these photos deal with craft and war. I love how of our cultural current definition of masculinity is challenged a bit in the first photo, a soldier knitting* quietly, with pin up photos in the background. The second and third are two different groups of women, both knitting for “their” soldiers.

Plus, how cool are the uniforms in the second photo?

Interned German, Fort Douglas, knitting scarf

[Note: how much his creation differs from that of German POW Jim Simpson. Not making a political statement, just interesting. Also: I’m not technically sure what the heck the guy above is doing, as it looks more like he’s making friendship bracelets than knitting?]

Women’s National Service School Under Woman’s Section, Navy League, 1916.

Berlin, Knitting for Soldiers

1st and 3rd photographs: Bain Collection, 2nd: Harris & Ewing Collection