In the News #3

Audiences: Teens and up

Purpose: To encourage people to continue to stick with their hobbies

Grandma knits a world record

Tonight, Marion Free, grandmother of Kayla and Douglas, knits her second sock for her soon to be 20th pair! Beside her chair is a basket of her collection of socks she had been working on.

Marion quietly sat in her living room chair, watching her evening news as she nimbly knitted the cuff of her sock. Her hands were continuously hard at work, going over and under with her yarn entwined through the thin bamboo needles. Her stitches came out neat and tiny, revealing a beautiful striped pattern of of blues, oranges, and browns.

When asked how she was able to create the complicated multicoloured stripes, she humbly laughed and said, "Oh, it just comes out this way automatically. All I have to do is follow the pattern and the multicoloured yarn makes it come out this way. Nothing to it!" None the less, she has been doing a great job so far.

Interviewers were curious how this sock crazed phenomenon came to be. "Well," starts Marion, "I saw the sock yarn in my Mary Maxim order magazine, so I decided to buy a couple of balls to try it out. They came out beautifully! I gave the finished pairs to my granddaughters. And then I thought, 'these would be great to make for Christmas gifts!' So I started knitting some for my daughters, sister in law and friends. I became hooked and haven't stopped since!"

So far, Marion has knitted around twenty pairs of socks! Her daughter, Becky, whose also creative in the arts and crafts, sells her leather works at a shop in her small town. Marion has been helping out with her business by making pairs socks for her to sell. "She's been a great help for the shop!" Becky states happily. "The customers love them! They're selling really quickly, so it looks like poor mom's going to have to work faster!" Marion plans to make smaller socks for babies.

While Marion does get a little tired after knitting for hours on end, you can tell she enjoys what she does. "Sometimes I give myself a break after I've knitted a couple of pairs." States Marion. "But then, I go back to Mary Maxim's craft store to buy more yarn. It's always interesting to see how some pairs will turn out when buying yarns I haven't used."

It's never to late to pick up a hobby. Marion only started making socks in the beginning of the year, though she has a wide range of experience with handicrafts. There are many craft stores that offer lessons for knitting, crocheting, sewing and other handicrafts. If interested, these multicoloured yarns are available in Mary Maxim, Micheal's and other local craft stores.