A Visit From Ann Weaver

The Sunflower Knitting Guild still killing it with the guest speakers!

This month, Ann Weaver came to speak with us about visible (and sometimes not so visible) mending. This was particularly exciting to me because she was supposed to be one of our featured teachers at Knitting in the Heartland 2020 (RIP). Also, I love the idea of visible mending, but it’s harder for me to put in practice. An anxiety driven part of my mind thinks we need to hide the mistakes, not show them off. Hard to argue with a lot of the results of visible mending, though!

Ann talked about the lock down and what she decided to pursue during that time, because she wasn’t working. She has always loved thrifting, so she found old sweaters to repurpose for new knitting classes. Some of them she still wanted to wear as she found them but had holes, and that’s how she really got into mending. Ann showed off some of her amazing pieces, featuring bright, fun darned patches. Truly made me wish I had some knitting with holes!

She covered the basic darn and stressed using materials we already had (unless you wanted to make an investment into your mending practice. She then recommended a Speedweve loom, and I second that). Ann was also super encouraging. Many times she iterated how low stakes a darn was, how you could always just take it out and replace it.

If you have an opportunity to take a class or workshop with Ann, I’d highly recommend it. You can check out her design/books/happenings on her website.