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ACS winners •
Clockwise from right: The
winning entries by Dawn
Spencer, Venetia Elbourne-
Hobbs and Linda Castles.
They knitted their way
to a generous cash prize
Last winter Spotlight and
Australian Country Spinners ran a
joint competition called ‘Knit your
way to a share of $30,000’. Get
Creative Quarterly promoted the
competition in issue number three.
The competition was, in part, a
celebration of the annual World Wide
Knit in Public Day. This issue we are
proud to introduce you to the three
successful knitters who shared in the
prize pool:
• Venetia Elbourne-Hobbs (Horsham,
Victoria) - Winner of the Baby, Child &
Teen category
• Linda Castles (South Melbourne,
Victoria) - Winner of the Men’s &
Women’s Fashion category
• Dawn Spencer (Swan Hill, Victoria)
- Winner of the Homewares & Pet
category
Venetia Elbourne-Hobbs was taught
to knit by her mother and grandmother
but took it up seriously once her own
children had arrived. “I decided that
it would be nice for me to knit each of
my children a jumper,” says Venetia.
“I knitted the two boys jumpers and
then all four children received an
Australian animal toy.”
Venetia doesn’t confine her creative
pursuits to knitting, she also loves
to design and began designing and
knitting her own patterns because
she couldn’t find commercial ones for
her girls that she liked. “So I created
‘mini mae knitwear’ two years ago to
produce, publish and sell my designs.
You can see them at
www.minimaeknitwear.com.au”
For this competition Venetia
entered her ‘One Knit Wonder dress
and hat’ design. “You just knit the
two pieces and then sew the shoulder
straps and side seams together. The
idea was to make a cute, simple dress
and matching hat, with basic stitches
for a novice knitter - busy mums like
me, who may have previously only
attempted a scarf.”
And what’s Venetia’s best tip for
novice knitters? “I think the best way
to improve your skills is to try different
things, and perhaps get involved with
other knitters.”
Linda Castles is the daughter of a
knitter so probably had her first set of
needles before she owned a school
bag. Lately Linda has been knitting
lace scarves and shawls with very fine
yarns and, she says, the competition
gave her an excuse to extend that to
a dress.
“Something I wouldn’t usually
have reason to knit,” she explains.
“It wasn’t made for anyone in
particular, but was made specifically
for the competition.”
And her tip for success in
knitting? “Just lots of practice, and
persistence,” says Linda.
Dawn Spencer was at primary
school during the 1930s and she
remembers how, in the upper school,
the class was regularly divided into
boys and girls so the lads could learn
woodwork and the girls could study
sewing and knitting.
“This was probably my earliest
knitting experience,” says Dawn.
“My mother and grandmother (a
tailoress) were very good at sewing
and crochet but I don’t remember
seeing them knit.”
One of Dawn’s earliest creations,
of which she was very proud, was a
green brushed wool scarf that she
often wore, regardless of whether it
matched her outfit. “It was because
I remember people admiring it,”
she concedes.
“I love knitting so much that I take
it almost everywhere,” says Dawn
who describes her pastime as both
relaxing and satisfying. “In the car on
a long journey my late husband would
sometimes say, ‘Would you please
stop that click – clack for a while?’”
Dawn says that “involved patterns
do not combine well with conversation”
so if she is watching television,
catching public transport or sitting at
the football she tends to knit cushions
or rugs to use as gifts. In fact it was at
a football game – whilst watching her
grandson Thomas play for Lake Boga
(near Swan Hill) – that she came up
with her winning project. His team is
black and white hence the black and
white rug and matching cushion were
created. •
Get Creative Quarterly Autumn 2012 31