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Dunedin woman Joan Hodge had forgotten that she knew how to knit, but has picked up her knitting needles again with the encouragement of her daughter Vanessa Beck.
Mrs Hodge, 84, a resident of Redroofs Lifecare home in Māori Hill, is living with dementia and taking up knitting again has been both enjoyable and calming for her.
Ms Beck said she asked her mum, also known as “Joanie-Pops”, to knit some peggy squares which could be sewn together to make a blanket.
“Instead, Joanie-Pops, with her confused brain and perhaps a little bit of self expression, knitted and knitted like a machine,” she said.
“Not a peggy square in sight but [instead] these long beautiful strips and giant shapes with jutting corners.”
Delighted by the results of her mum’s knitting, Ms Beck — a Dunedin Fringe Festival producer — curated an exhibition for the Fringe HQ White Box display space in the window.
The exhibition, titled “Ravelled”, is on display in the space, at 19 George St, until September 8.
The Star visited with Mrs Hodge and Ms Beck at Redroofs this week to find out a little more about the life of this former nurse, mother of four, grandmother of five and great-grandmother of four.
A sweet and delightful lady, Mrs Hodge shared that is was her father, Oswald Dey, who taught her to knit as a young girl with the familiar chant “in, round, through and off”.
She became a keen knitter, creating many garments for family members over the years, including knitting jerseys for her three young sons for a family wedding.
Mrs Hodge stopped knitting for a time, but said picking up her knitting needles again had been enjoyable and she found knitting relaxing.
Ms Beck said the calming effect of knitting for her mum had been evident, and had helped her through a difficult time as she aged.
“Her mind may be unravelling, but in a sense she is also holding on to the things that are important — beauty, kindness and doing things her own way.”
Another passion for Mrs Hodge is gardening and, after moving to Redroofs, she would occasionally get out and help out with sweeping and weeding.
“I love the garden here, it is really lovely,” she said.
One thing she doesn’t miss is cooking — estimating that she has cooked about 36,000 meals for her husband Stuart and the family.
Ms Beck said the Ravelled exhibition had sparked many conversations, with passers-by spotting the knitted pieces and calling into the Fringe HQ to talk about it.
“People are keen to talk about their own knitting experiences, how they find it relaxing, and their experience of memory loss and dementia,” she said.
“It has been really special to have those conversations with people.”