Purl About Town
LAURA ‘PURL PRINCESS’ PARKINSON SWAPS A NOTEBOOK
AND PEN FOR NEEDLES AND YARN AS SHE DELVES
INTO KNITTING AS A FORM OF JOURNALLING
96In 2018 a German woman decided to
document how long she was delayed on
her daily train commute by knitting a scarf.
Yes, she was that fed up with the service.
Each day she would knit two rows in a
colour corresponding to how long she
was delayed. No delay: light grey; less than
ive minutes: dark grey; between ive and
thirty minutes: pink; over thirty minutes’
delay: red. The resulting 1.5m-long striped
scarf – with a large chunk of red in the
middle thanks to summer rail replacement
services – went viral after her daughter
posted a photo of it online. The scarf ’s
popularity led to it being auctioned on
eBay for £6,720, which was donated to a
charity dedicated to helping vulnerable
passengers and people with travel
emergencies. This lady’s brilliant idea to
turn a scarf into a record of a daily event
was a really powerful expression of her
frustration with the train line and even
ended up making a diference. After
seeing the scarf, the train company
appointed a new person to improve its
punctuality record. The power of knitting
never ceases to amaze me.
This kind of knitting, as a way to keep a
record or create a diary, isn’t the irst of its
kind. Lea Redmond of Leafcutter Designs
has released several journalling patterns
since 2011 using the same principle. Her
Mood Scarf acts as a daily reminder to
notice how you feel, asking you to knit
two rows a day with a colour to match
your mood. And her Sky Scarf project
encourages you to look up and knit rows
corresponding to the colour of the sky
each day. The purpose of these projects
isn’t really to make a scarf to keep you
warm, although that’s a nice side efect. Itis to create a change in your life, increasing
your awareness of how you feel and the
world around you. How often do you stop
and take a moment to notice how you’re
feeling or take in the colour of the sky?
Journalling as a method of self-care
for mental health and general wellbeing
has become a popular concept. Some
of the big trends over the past few years
include bullet journalling, which to me
seems like a very involved way of writing a
list, but apparently is a great way to keep
organised. Gratitude journalling boosts
positivity as you write
down things you are
grateful for, big or
small, each day.
Journalling by
knitting is similar to
these paper journalling
ideas. It’s a quick and
small act, recording
something daily, which
makes you take time for
yourself and forces you
to become more
aware of things
around you. It’s
such a simple
idea, but a very
thoughtful way
of creating a
unique project.
One of the
most exciting and interesting things about
these journalling knits is that you can make
your own rules and create something
unpredictable and truly unique. The
most popular type of journalling knit is to
record the year’s temperatures in a blanket
shawl or scarf. Knitters create their own
personal key of colours that correspond
to diferent temperatures and then they
knit a row, stripe or square each day to
document them. You can choose to record
the temperature of a certain place or of
wherever you are in the world at the time.
You can choose to record the temperature
at a certain time of day and if you miss a day
it’s easy to catch up with online weather
records. The nice thing is that the rules aredown to you. There are thousands of these
projects on Ravelry and each one looks
completely diferent.
With each of these journalling knits you
end up with a unique and special visual
representation of what you have recorded,
be it the train delay, the colour of the sky,
your mood or the temperature. You could
in fact choose to record anything – the
possibilities are endless. You could record
what you eat for lunch each day, the
books you read, even the colour of your
knickers? Perhaps not.FOR MORE RAMBLINGS OF A PURL ABOUT TOWN CLICK ON DOWN TO
INSTAGRAM.COM/PURLABOUTTOWNMUST READ:
Knit the Sky by Lea Redmond of
Leafcutter Designs builds on her Sky
Scarf and Mood Scarf ideas in this
playful book which encourages you
to get creative with your knitting. I
love the beautiful illustrations. Find
out more at leafcutterdesigns.comMUST GO:
If you’re into sports, the Scoreboard
Cowl by Michelle Hunter is a fun way
of recording the wins, draws and
losses of your favourite sports team
with stripes knitted in your team’s
colours. Available for free on Ravelry.PHOTOGRAPH: DANIAPHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK.COMCommuter delay scarfLea Redmond