Mia Hobbs: Hello, and welcome to the Why I Knit podcast. My
name is Dr. Mia Hobbs and I'm a clinical psychologist who is
passionate about knitting and its benefits for our mental
health. Each episode I interview a knitter to ask them why they
knit and how it has benefited their mental well being. This
week I'm talking to Ros Edwards. Ros is a prolific knitter who
has had a bed bound illness for the last five years. She's
turned to knitting to help manage her ME. You can find
links to Ros's Instagram and all the yarns and patterns she
mentions in the show notes.
So hi, Ros. Welcome to the podcast.
Ros Edwards: Hi.
Thanks for having me.
Mia Hobbs: You're very welcome.
And your background looks beautiful. I should just tell
the listeners that you've got all your amazing colourful
shawls in the background and a lovely knitted patchwork blanket
over the chair.
Ros Edwards: Yes, that's right. It's a cosy memories blanket
which I've stolen back from my son.
Mia Hobbs: just borrowing it. So I'd be really interested to hear
where your story with knitting began.
Ros Edwards: Well, it began really officially with him. And
when I was pregnant with him, I suddenly thought, so this was 12
years ago, I suddenly thought I need to knit, my mother had
always knit when we were younger. And I hadn't had any
interest in it until I became pregnant.
Mia Hobbs: Do you learn as a kid at all?
Ros Edwards: No, I didn't learn from her. My granny knit us
loads as well, but didn't learn from her either. But I think
some of it must have sunk in kind of through osmosis or
something. Because once I started and I was learning
through books at the time, once I started, it all felt very
natural. And I started off with a patchwork blanket, and which I
didn't finish. I was working when I was pregnant. And I was
very, very sick. So I didn't finish it. Then I had my
beautiful boy and didn't knit again then for another six
years. At which point he said to me 'you know, all those
patchwork squares you've got that didn't make it into a
blanket. Could you make me a bear? ' Yeah, sure, I'll make
you a better so I'm going to show you although the listeners
can't hear, but this is this is a very funny bear, and a very
fluffy head.
Mia Hobbs: And all made of patchwork
Ros Edwards: And it's all made of the patchwork squares. I
know, I sort of figured out how to make decreases for his ears,
but his head doesn't stand up on its own. And he's very chewed
and but his name is Bernard because everything everything
was called Bernard was my son was a baby really, for some
unknown reason. And he was Yeah, Bernard was what started it all
off. And to make Bernard I had to knit a few more squares. And
once I started knitting six years ago, again, that was it, I
caught the bug, okay,
Mia Hobbs: and I presume you had to invent the pattern yourself.
Ros Edwards: I just kind of stepped in with T shirts. And so
the things together and it was very ad hoc, but yes, very, very
loved.
Mia Hobbs: They you've still got him, that's amazing.
Ros Edwards: And so that's how I started. And then I think having
become a mother and gone back to work. I still was in that kind
of who am I am I am mother am I a career person. And I've always
liked wearing, not what everybody else wears so I've
always liked to be a bit individual and different to
everyone else. And I realised having started to get the bug
with the knitting that I could make things for myself that no
one else has. I think I went on to love crafts and found a very
difficult but I didn't know it was difficult at the time Katia
pattern, which was a poncho, and it kind of knit the yarn knit
itself, kind of fun colours. And so that's where I started was
right. I can make myself clothes that are different and that suit
my slightly different body that is now a mums body. And that's
how it started.
Mia Hobbs: Did you start making clothes for yourself quite
quickly after because I imagine that's quite a big leap from the
patchwork blanket to then garments.
Ros Edwards: And it was a shame in a way that I had started with
that pattern because it was a tubular cast on. And it had
obviously been translated from maybe German, I don't know, but
the translation wasn't great. And so I was quick, tried and
tried and ripped and ripped. And this poncho just wasn't working
for me. So I started off with the intention of making garments
and then went to a knitting group just for one session in a
local craft shop and was Wool and Gang and We Are Knitters.
And so I can do super chunky knits. And they'll be done
really quickly. So I started knitting blankets for my niece
and nephew and for my son, and for our house, which we just
moved, which none of the furniture weren't, we'd
inherited loads. And I thought rather than pay loads of money
for new furniture, I'm just going to knit loads of blankets
and make everything look nice. Yeah, that's, that's Yeah. So
that's what I did for a good year and a half was stick with.
Mia Hobbs: Yeah. Oh, lovely. So that was how you started? Yeah.
Knitting. So you said you caught the bug. When you made the
patchwork bear, Bernard, what was it about it, you think kind
of attracted you? He said kind of making stuff for yourself
that was a bit different. And then you went in with the
blankets. Was there anything about the process you
particularly enjoyed?
Ros Edwards: Yeah, I would say, I don't know what it is exactly
about it. But knitting the squares to make the bear. I
found myself if I wasn't knitting, I missed it. And
whilst at the time, I didn't have a lot of time to knit at
all. If I did have some downtime at all, I wanted there to be
knitting in my hands. And I really missed it if it wasn't
there. And I found myself, I changed jobs trying to do some
job with less responsibility. And I used to, I started taking
buses. And on the bus, I bring my knitting with me. So I could
spend 45 minutes knitting before the day began. And in lunch, I
would knit. And I found that a lot of my job was I had to do a
lot of thinking and a lot of writing. And if there was a
problem that I didn't have the answer to lunch break, do an
hours of knitting, and then all the answers would be there for
me when I returned to my desk. So I could tell that it was
doing something to my brain. That was good. But I didn't know
what it was just so that I could I could rely on the knitting to
kind of help my brain. When I was younger, I used to play the
piano and it did similar things. That I would go with a problem
and leave the piano without being such a big deal anymore.
And yeah, very similar.
Mia Hobbs: So it's not just about feeling less kind of. So
it's not just about feeling calmer. It's almost like it
unlocks a different door for solutions as well.
Ros Edwards: Yeah, that's exactly how it felt. And it was
really brilliant. And I think the other I mean, the other cool
thing is, is that on the bus or at work, it draws people to
people come and say, you know, what are we doing and and that
was fun, you know, and to have people be interested in or
people always have their own stories they want to tell you
about their mom or their Auntie your granny. And it's lovely
that side of it as well.
Mia Hobbs: Yeah, so kind of a different way of connecting to
people. Yeah,
Ros Edwards: exactly. Exactly. I um. I didn't find Instagram.
Until I've been knitting for two years, various people had said,
you really should go on Instagram, because I think
there's quite a lot of knitters on there. And I kind of brushed
it off because I didn't want to be on my phone too much. I was
enjoying the tactile kind of analogue, being away from my
screen. But I did go on Instagram, and I started looking
at people who were knitting shawls. And I remember thinking,
why are people knitting shawls? Like what's what is the big deal
about that? So I, but I realised that there was a community on
there people from around the world, knitting beautiful things
and sharing it and that was really fun for me. I was still
working at that point. But it was like a whole new world of
people and I've been so in a very corporate world for about
20 years and it all being about money-making and selling big
contracts. And it was lovely to find a whole community of people
that were not in that world necessarily are not talking
about that world anyway,
Mia Hobbs: did it change what you knitted when you found that
community those kind of connections.
Ros Edwards: Eventually it did. And it was I remember distinctly
it was the time when Andrea Mowry's find your facial came
out. And there's quite an iconic picture of her. Taken by her
photographer, husband, I think standing in nature with her find
your age. You know, she's got her tattoos and she's, she's
beautiful. And I remember thinking, wow, this is really
cool. This is like shawls are cool. And then Stephen West
released his Vertices Unite, or he'd already released it. And I
started seeing loads of those on Instagram thinking, wow, it can
be really fun and really cool. And the colours can be very
untraditional. And that really appealed to me. So Find Your
Fade was the first show like, can I think four or five of
those? Yeah. And just just learning to play with colour and
lace and fingering weight yarn and then. Yeah.
Mia Hobbs: And in terms of why you knit now, would you say the
reasons are the same? Or have they changed over time?
Ros Edwards: Well, I was signed off sick five years ago. And it
was a very stressful time, obviously, I was the main
breadwinner in the house. And we did not know how we were going
to survive. And so as time has progressed, it was a it's been a
real stress reliever and problem solver. And now that the kind of
big stressors have eased, it's a it's a great distraction from
the symptoms I experience. Yeah, so I find now that if I have
really bad pain days, I knitting, if I'm able to knit
then it's it's distracts me from the pain and I don't feel the
pain at all, if I'm able to knit and usually I am able to knit I
feel pretty lucky that despite being sick, I can still knit.
Mia Hobbs: And it's amazing that you actually notice it, reducing
your pain.
Ros Edwards: Well, I especially I noticed that if I'm in so much
pain, and then normal medication isn't touching the sides, I
grabbed my knitting and start to knit. And then it just it just
is just distract distracts me. Yeah. I think having been in
such a fast paced career for 20 years, the knitting has given me
the chance to learn patience, and learn to slow down and learn
to be really, really present. Which again, when you're not
well, and there isn't a kind of end in sight with the illness.
Being present, I have found has been just incredible for my
mental health and knitting. Definitely, you know, as you're
especially now I find I lean towards more complicated
patterns, things that I have to focus on a bit more. And just
the act of counting a lace pattern, for example, can be can
really keep me in the present and you know, help that really
conscious living?
Mia Hobbs: Yeah. Yeah. So that's amazing. So it feels like it's
really helpful to be able to have knitting so the projects
and feeling like I suppose when you said that it doesn't feel
like there's necessarily an end in sight in terms of your
physical health difficulties that actually having projects
that have an end, maybe that feels things to look forward to.
I'm interested in what you said about being attracted to
increasingly complicated patterns. Because I that's
something I really relate to. And I wanted to ask about
whether all knitting is equal like, or whether you need a
certain type of knitting or you choose, you've got different
projects on the go. And some days it has to be a certain
thing or sometimes times it has to be something else.
Ros Edwards: Yeah, I think that's, that's a really good
point. And I have countless works in progress. Literally, I
can't tell you how many I have to go at the moment. And one of
them is very much a stockinette sweater in the round. I've got
several brioche sweaters on the go. And those ones are for more
days when my brain isn't working as well. Or if I'm reading to my
son in bed, or we're listening to an audiobook Yeah, we you
know, those are the those are the projects that I will go to
they're more simple ones
Mia Hobbs: is brioche in that category.
Ros Edwards: Yeah, it is now, especially if it's a brioche
jumper, which is just the same repeats in the round. Or two
round repeat. Okay. Yeah, I've done a few of those now. And I
love the texture that they create this, you know, that's,
that's the other thing is, you know, I've never until I started
knitting, done art, or I used to say, I don't have a creative
bone in my body.
Mia Hobbs: Really? That's extraordinary!
Ros Edwards: I mean, I, I feel like if anyone can find
creativity, you know, I definitely used to feel like I
wasn't creative. I felt like I was all business, all logic, all
very left brain. Can't remember which way round it is. But okay,
yeah, I can't remember. So knitting has taught me that,
that creativity can be found. And, and that I know that I
think the colour choice as well is therapeutic in itself.
Mia Hobbs: I really wanted to ask you about colour because I
associate you, you know, I first started following you, I think
probably a few years ago, and I really associate you with
somebody who knits a lot of lovely colours,
Ros Edwards: colourful. Yeah. And I've noticed that at certain
times of year, every year I graduate towards certain colour
choices. And certainly in springtime, or just before
spring, I've noticed that I've done a few sort of lilac in
green and, you know, spring type colours. And in the summer, I'm
really leaning towards the very, very bright pinks and oranges
together. Although having said that, I see, I mean, another
reason for choosing projects and colour is what I will actually
end up wearing. And as I've started knitting more garments,
I want be able to wear them with what I usually wear in a day and
I was gifted some very beautiful pyjamas last year. And I live in
bed so pyjamas is what I wear. And these pyjamas are a kind of
peachy pink colour. Yeah, so I've ended up knitting things to
go with these pyjamas because I end up wearing them. And so
that's an element of, you know, wanting the end result to fit my
need. Having said that, I love the process knit, say the
Stephen West knitalong where I can go really wild and free with
my colour choices and not think about whether I'll wear it or
not just explore colour and how it goes together in in a fabric
and yeah.
Mia Hobbs: And so that's a shawl. Is that right?
Ros Edwards: Yes, yes, yes. Yes.
Mia Hobbs: Different techniques in different sections. Is that
normally with Stephen West patterns?
Ros Edwards: Yeah. I mean, it's perfect. For short attention
spans these mystery knit alongs because it's a different
technique every few rows and and you don't know what's coming. So
yeah, I love his, I love his mystery knit alongs. I really
enjoy them. And I look forward to them every year. And
Mia Hobbs: I guess there's a sense of community along with
that as well.
Ros Edwards: Exactly, exactly. And I mean, of all the things
that knitting has brought me that is the biggest surprise
it's the community and and especially as, as my life has
changed quite dramatically from I am a natural extrovert. So
when I was working, I was just surrounded with people all the
time. And in constant communication with all sorts of
people so suddenly not having that outlet. I have found that
I've got so that I found new and like minded people who are
really good friends now around the world who I really feel like
we're there for each other when, when personal things happen. And
that's incredible to me that the knitting community can be like
that. And the kindness and generosity of spirit has
astounded me because I've not been in a world where kindness
was a value was valued.
Mia Hobbs: Do you mean the corporate world?
Ros Edwards: Exactly. Exactly. So the generosity in fact, the
cosy memories blanket, which I'm leaning against started, because
I've never heard of yarn advent calendars before. And a friend
online sent me a box of beautifully wrapped yarn, and
was like, Here you go. And I couldn't believe the time and
thought that had gone into it. And I thought, well, I've got to
make one of these blankets. Yeah, I haven't looked back.
It's not done yet. But it's, you know, it's big enough now to
kind of wrap up it and yeah, yeah, so they've just been
countless examples of that level of just quite incredible
generosity. And my mum will say that I'm a very generous soul,
myself. And I, I think when you're in the corporate
environment, you kind of tamp down on that sort of
personality. And so it's allowed me to express some of that in
return. And that's just been so joyful and meaningful. And
Mia Hobbs: that can affect your mental health as well can't it,
the feeling of doing something nice for somebody else.
Ros Edwards: Definitely. And I think now, my most treasured
projects are the ones where either the yarn has been dyed by
someone who I've met in person or online. Or has been dyed by
someone who is either Black or Brown or an indigenous maker.
And, or the pattern has been designed by someone who's a
small designer who is looking to expand their business. So I've
gone from knitting the patterns by the really big, big names, I
obviously still knit Stephen West, because I will always knit
his patterns. But in general, I try to knit patterns from
designers who are less known, just in the hope that even if I
can encourage one or two people to buy a pattern from them, then
I will have helped them along the way kind of. And you know, I
won't, I won't knit any designers that like just this
summer, I test knit for a designer who has got less than
1000 followers on Instagram, and she is an exquisite designer
Susan Lin. And it had a beautiful lace yoke, and
knitting it. I had a knitted during a time when my son went
away on holiday without me for three weeks because I wasn't
well enough to go. And I was really heartbroken not to be
well enough to go on this holiday. And worrying about him
being on holiday without me. I don't think I've been that sad
ever. And it just so happened that the day or a couple of days
after he left this tes knit started. And I literally poured
all my emotions into this project. And the fact that it
was so beautifully designed, and so intuitive. And watching this
beautiful fabric grow in my fingers. It was just the
ultimate therapy for me. And I have told the designer, Susan,
this. And I wear it so fondly. Because I feel I feel like it
really kept me together. It held me together through those weeks
that he was away and I finished it just before he came back.
Mia Hobbs: Oh, wow. did you do that? Because it sounds like it
kind of there was an element of coincidence that it happened to
be that pattern. But I suppose I'm interested in whether you
choose patterns specifically or project for a life event or kind
of in order to be therapeutic for you, if you see what I mean
or whether that was more of a coincidence that it happened
that way it
Ros Edwards: I think that was more of a coincidence i i had I
think I'd signed up for the test knit, before I knew I wasn't
going to be well enough to go on holiday. And so I'm just trying
to think if there are I certainly cast things on in a
kind of therapeutic. I need to cast something new one kind of
thing. And that's going to cheer me up and give me that buzz
because
Mia Hobbs: of the same way as someone else might have a glass
of wine or chocolate after that kind of thing. Yeah,
Ros Edwards: exactly. I mean, I go through phases of casting
lots of things on and then I go through a phase of finishing
lots of things off, but they all get finished. Yeah, they do get
finished. In the end, and I often get people saying, Where
are you knit fast, and I'm like, Well, that was already like
three quarters done. So you get the pleasure of finishing
something that actually didn't have a lot left to go. But I, I
mean, there's another jumper that I knit in the summer before
Sam went away, where I had a really big flare of my ME. And
it manifested this time in a very, very, very sore throat,
which I don't tend to get very often anymore. And I cast on the
Sea Glass Tee by Wool and Pine designs, it had just been
released. And you the way they wrote the pattern was that you
choose two new colours for every row. It's a colour work jumper,
and fingering weight. And so you're literally choosing two
new colours, every row and I got my big basket full of all my
odds and ends. And I sped through that pattern with my
sore throat. And remember knitting the pattern or than I
remember the sore throat, but I remember it being a very, again,
a very lovely distraction. And it was just so joyful. So it
stopped me from feeling too sorry for myself. And I just
spent most of my time looking at my growing fabric thinking, Oh,
look, isn't that beautiful?
Mia Hobbs: And how does it feel to wear it now?
Ros Edwards: Amazing. Amazing. Yeah, feels really good to wear
it,
Mia Hobbs: like a triumph over that sore throat.
Ros Edwards: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. But I don't know, I
think there are probably, I imagine a lot of people who knit
without needing a deep meaning attached to it. And who just
knit for the joy of knitting and for the end product, whereas I
found that, for me, there is greater joy if there is
meaning. So either if I know the yarn Dyer, or they're a small
designer, or whatever it is. I like that those are my really
treasured objects that the jumper I'm wearing today is the
Sussurus pullover by Joji Locatelli. Yeah. And this was on
the cover of Pom Pom. And it was modelled by a Black woman in a
wheelchair. Yes. And I remember when the issue came out vividly.
And I can't remember if I actually cried or if I just had
tears in my eyes. And I felt really choked up for a long
time, I felt so choked up. The issue of being guest edited by
Ocean, who is another Black woman in our industry. And I
just I remember feeling grateful and relieved that there was
there was finally some more recognition being given and paid
jobs being given to Black women in our industry. And that there
was a woman in a wheelchair on the front cover of a magazine.
And it just meant the world to me. And to you know, that whole
feeling of being seen. And I don't think I'd appreciated that
I hadn't felt seen before, but I knew that I had to knit that
jumper. And I have a really dear friend who I met through
Instagram who lives in Bristol who dyes yarn, Tracy of Somerset
Yarns and she does beautiful yarn. And so I used her mohair
for the jumper. So the whole things. My mum tried the jumper
on as well. And she looked so good in it that I had to give it
to her. So I knit myself a second one and exactly the same.
Mia Hobbs: Okay, so you have got that is yours. You haven't had
to borrow it back to wear it?
Ros Edwards: Yeah, I saw this mine. And yeah, so I mean, talk
about meaningful. Yeah, I, you know, when I put it on, also,
it's perfect for wearing in bed because it's so light. But it's
still warm enough to give me some warmth. So, yeah, it suits
lots of purposes.
Mia Hobbs: It sounds like a big part of the knitting is you kind
of showing and using your kind of values in life through the
yarns that you buy, the pattern designers you support. Yeah,
that's a big part of what gives it meaning for you.
Ros Edwards: Yeah, for me, I do recognise that I that, that not
everybody will knit in the same way as me and that's brilliant.
You know, if your knitting that was great in my book, but it
just for me, it means you know, if there is meaning the extra
meaning then I love it even more. Yeah.
Mia Hobbs: Yeah. And in terms of how it feels, it sounds also you
you kind of have that connection while you're knitting the
project. Then you can retain the connection with the garment
afterwards, and that you still get memories and reactivate
those values when you put the that jumper on.
Ros Edwards: Yeah. And I have them all stacked up on shelves
on my landing outside my bedroom. So I can see them all
really clearly when I leave my bedroom, and so it fills me up
every time I leave the room, I can see them all. And I think
when I first got signed off sick, I did have a couple of
I've had, I've had therapy several times in my life, but I
had a couple of therapy sessions on the phone. Soon after I was
diagnosed with having ME and I remember the lady saying to me,
if you can do one thing in a day, that gives you a sense of
accomplishment. And if you can try and connect with a friend
once a week, then you'll be you know, you should be okay type of
thing. Yeah. And I, I've hung on to that. And you know, even if
I'm only well enough to knit a couple of stitches or a row,
then I can I can look at it and say I did that. And that's my
sense of accomplishment ticked off for the day. Yeah. And I'm
interacting frequently with friends on Instagram. And that
is connection enough genuinely for me. So it really has given
me all I need. Yeah.
Mia Hobbs: And that's, I guess one of the things when I'm using
knitting therapeutically, the thing you mentioned first about
doing something that gives you pleasure or a sense of
achievement. And I think knitting is really good for that
in that you can do with teeny tiny amount and still have made
progress towards a thing or you know, a project
Ros Edwards: And its tangilbe. Yeah, yeah. And, again, you
know, for most of my adult life until now, I'm 45 now, and I
stopped working when I was 40. So until I was 40, I hadn't ever
done anything that was really tangible, because I was selling
concepts or management programmes or oh, you know, one
thing or another, there wasn't something I could hold in my
hands and say, Look, this is what I did or what I made. So
it's a real delight for me at this age to discover it.
Mia Hobbs: And is it art for you?
Ros Edwards: Yeah, no, it kind of is. I watched, I watched my
son who I believe he is, you know, he just can't stop doing
art in one form or another. It just pours out of him. And I've
never, I've never watched someone who is so natural at
wanting to do art. And so I look at him doing it. And I think
well, that's real art. Whereas knitting, I'm just following a
pattern. But having said that, I do look at my shawls all hanging
up. And I just appreciate the beauty of them. And I can feel
good that I made them. Yeah,
Mia Hobbs: I guess you're choosing your materials and your
colours. And so I don't know what the official definition of
art is, but you're also sounds like for you, particularly
giving meaning. And yeah, showing your values through your
work. Yeah, that's, I guess, part of an artistic process, I
would imagine.
Ros Edwards: Yeah, I can't remember. I can't remember
somebody saying, you know, if you can hang it on your wall and
appreciate it, then it's art and really, I don't wear my shawls,
because they're so less comfortable for me to wear. My
neck gets so hot, but I do hang them on the wall and look at
them and appreciate them. So yeah, I'll take that.
Mia Hobbs: I wondered about the materials actually, about
whether there was anything I don't know therapeutic or
different about different materials about the you know,
like you said about it being tangible holding in your hand.
Yeah, feels whether you've got certain, I don't know, days
where you want a certain type of thing in your hands. Like,
Ros Edwards: yeah, I would say so. Yeah. I am. I've been
knitting with sort of fingering weight mostly super Superwash
Merino, and I have a really big stash of yarn. That is that
Superwash Merino fingering weight yarn, and I love knitting
with that. It's very soft for my I got more sensitive skin now
than I used to. Having said that, I met a designer and yarn
Dyer called Marina Skua, who is on Instagram as well. And she
sources her yarn from local farms. And I bought some of her
yarn and knit a jumper called the Boskular in the spring. And
I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed knitting with non
superwash yarn well with her yarn especially yeah It was so
springy, and again, that whole kind of being present in every
stitch. Even though I was knitting in the round for a lot
of it. Every stitch I enjoyed, and I thought, wow, that I can
see why people love non superwash yarn now It didn't
feel itchy. It felt so springy. And because I've met her, and I
think she's a cool person. And I love her designs, it was her
design as well. Okay. Again, that was, you know, lots of
meaning and the fact that was, you know, local to her and local
to me because she lives locally. So I was picturing these sheep
that are not very far away from here. So yeah, definitely. But
generally speaking, I am drawn to the colour of the yarn or the
artistry in the hand dyeing first. But if it's by a person
who I either think is not promoted enough, or who I really
love, for whatever reason, then I will really enjoy knitting
with their yarn. Yeah,
Mia Hobbs: yeah. i You've shared a few significant projects. And
obviously, I can could see lots behind you. And, and we met
Bernard, but I wonder if you would tell us about a
particularly significant knitting project for you. Hmm,
Ros Edwards: well, I, I would say that the Sussurus pullover
by Joji and the Swoon sweater by Susan Lin have the greatest
meaning to me that I've mentioned. But another one that
is definitely high up on my list of significant projects is my
mum and I went to Edinburgh yarn Festival in 2018, and then 2019.
And in 2018, I went with the intention of buying yarn to make
a Telja sweater by Jennifer Steingass. And we ended up at
the mYak booth and bought yarn from mYak to make this jumper
and is quite an investment. But I'd read the story again of mYak
and how mYak was born and was amazed by the project in the
Himalayas that had created this yarn. So I got the yarn. And
before I went back to Edinburgh yarn Festival, the next year, I
met the jumper and then had a photo with Paola, who runs my AK
wearing my jumper, so that was just Yeah, super significant,
super special. And again, as I was knitting it, and as I wear
it, I was thinking of the project in the Himalayas and
what mYak have done to try and get more income back into that
community. And so yeah, that's another good significant one for
me. A knitting disaster, which turned into a success, yet,
again, is quite significant. I was entered into a yarn giveaway
by a podcaster called Shannon, who does the Whiskey and Wool
podcast and I love her podcast, she is in New Jersey. And she I
learned a lot about colour and design from her because she's
been in that industry for many years. So she entered me into
this giveaway. And we won and we each won a sweaters quantity of
yarn from Garnstories. So the yarn arrived, I decided what I
was going to knit with it, which was the Igawa sweater by Junko
Okamoto. And I think I it's a fingering weight jumper and I
knit about a half of it and then ripped it back because I wasn't
happy with the shape or something, knit three quarters
of it and ripped it all the way back because I wasn't happy with
a colour pooling and then knit it again. And now I love it, but
Mia Hobbs: You knit the same pattern?
Ros Edwards: Yeah, so it was weeks and weeks of knitting. And
I can remember my little brother just being absolutely amazed
that I'd somehow learnt so much patience because the Ros that he
knew of old would never have done that. I used to be go
karting skydiving, scuba diving, Formula One, etc, etc.
adrenaline junkie, absolutely. He just couldn't compute that. I
would do that. It's I think it's a good thing.
Mia Hobbs: Do you think that transfers outside of knitting
that you've that patience? or Yeah,
Ros Edwards: interesting. To some extent, I still would say,
I mean, I've had to learn patience through being ill. And
knitting has helped me to learn that I think I'm an
extraordinarily patient mother. If I do say so myself
Mia Hobbs: Well that's a big achievement
Ros Edwards: Well, I learned from my mum who had four I don't
know how she did it, I only have one. But yeah, I noticed myself,
because being more patient with him when I could become more
impatient. And just the reward that that brings, but I Yeah,
it's a tricky one. There's a lot of the old me that is still
there. And I'm still pretty sassy. And I still drive my
husband mad with, you know, one thing or another, as I would
have done when I was completely well,
Mia Hobbs: but I guess theres a lot you have to tolerate in
terms of the limitations of what you can manage because of your
illness. Yeah, I guess. I can't actually, yeah, it's I'm sure
it's being used up in droves in that sense.
Ros Edwards: Exactly. Like, it's a surprise every day when I try
and walk. And I can't walk as I thought I was going to walk,
it's still a surprise every day. And so yeah, you have to limit
yourself, but I think I've just learnt to sort of change my
milestones, I guess. And it has taught me to be really grateful
for the smaller or all the more important things that I would
have just taken for granted. before. Yeah. So think there's
an awful lot that I am grateful for, that I would not have
discovered had I not had to slow down completely. Yeah.
Mia Hobbs: And I think that you have mentioned so many things
already. But I wanted to end with this question. Which feel
free to mention something you've already said, but what's the
greatest gift that knitting has given you for the rest of your
life, I suppose.
Ros Edwards: Um I think the biggest gift is that it's the
community. And the the understanding that it's given me
of how important community is how flawed community can be, but
how even from bed, I can take an active part in, in that
community. And I gained so much from it. And I feel like I do my
best to give back to it. I think patience, as we've said,
already, is a big gift, especially for me. But also, I
think, especially it's that forcing yourself to be present.
And that is a huge gift. Because so much of life is so fast. So
being able to just focus on each stitch isagreat lesson in
general for for life. And, you know, I notice myself being more
present in the rest of my life. Thanks to knitting, I would say
Mia Hobbs: yeah. So it's a lot, a lot of gifts really
Ros Edwards: I mean, it is a lot. And I think if I hadn't
been signed off sick, maybe it wouldn't be as much but because
I don't go out now. And you know, it is it is pretty much
everything. So
Mia Hobbs: yeah, but I'm guessing there are actually a
lot of knitters in the knitting community who feel like it has
had a really significant role in there. Because I guess a lot of
people may be attracted to it because of finding challenges
with other hobbies or other parts of life. And there's
something that draws them to it in the first place.
Ros Edwards: Yeah, I agree. I agree. There's and I think this
the the very act of it is soothing. And so yeah, I think
when you meet other knitters, you've got that whole sense of
you know, We know something the rest of the world doesn't. This
is actually really cool and I guess
Mia Hobbs: that's part of the podcast is trying to let other
people in on the secret really Yeah. knitters, you see, you
know, knitting pins about, you know, I knit because punching
people is frowned upon or things that allude to there's something
therapeutic about it, I suppose, in a roundabout way. Well, that
was my reading of those kinds of statments
Ros Edwards: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And it's something that
is, you know, I think a lot of people are either I remember
when I was working, and, you know, a lot of people work a lot
of hours, your whole identity is tied up with what you're what
you're doing your job. And when you become a parent, if you
become a parent, your whole identity is suddenly swallowed
up with, I'm a parent. And knitting gives you an outlet
that is neither of those things. So there's just for your own
joy. And I think that's really important. You know, so I don't
think of myself as a sick person. I don't really think of
myself as a knitter, either. I, you know, I'm a person who has a
passion. And you know, I've been very lucky in a lot of areas of
my life, but I love the fact that it gives people something
other than just their career, or, you know, just the fact of
being a parent, which are great things, but they, you know, it's
nice that they're not the be all and end all, I think,
Mia Hobbs: yeah. And to have a way of, I think, yeah, the
expression of creativity.
Ros Edwards: Definitely. Yeah.
Mia Hobbs: Yeah. Well Ros thank you so much for talking to me.
And I'm sure there'll be
Ros Edwards: such a pleasure.
Mia Hobbs: people who would love to see your beautiful creations
and all your colourful shows online. Can you just tell me how
they can find you online on Instagram?
Ros Edwards: Cool. Yeah, absolutely. So I'm on Instagram
as Rosemonde. Which is what I used to get called when I went
to school in Montreal in Canada. So that's why
Mia Hobbs: so that's a Rosemonde with the second o, is a zero?
Ros Edwards: Yeah. I am not on Ravelry. But I have an account
that is still there that has old projects on there, which is
again Rosemonde. But the first zero first Oh is a zero.
Mia Hobbs: Just to keep us on our toes.
Ros Edwards: I don't know why I did that. I don't know why I did
that. But there we are. But Instagram is really where I And
Mia Hobbs: yeah. Okay, super. Thank you so much.
Ros Edwards: Thank you so much.
Mia Hobbs: Thank you for listening to the why I knit
podcast. If you'd like to hear more about how I'm using
knitting for therapeutic benefits. Please follow me on
Instagram at knitting is therapeutic or on my website
which is therapeutic knitting. If you or anyone you know would
be a great guest on the podcast then please get in touch.