A group of keen crocheters have been busily knitting away for a new project at Queen Victoria Museum.
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The group are planning on yarn-bombing the museum, with knitted panels being prepared for the yellow poles outside, the inside staircase, and spots out the back including the children’s area.
Why? To honour Tasmanian domestic goddess Marjorie Bligh, who will be the subject of an upcoming exhibition.
Co-curator of the exhibitition and yarn-bombing project coordinator Amy Bartlett said Marjorie Bligh was an important part of many Tasmanians’ childhoods.
“It’s a way of people who remember her to come together, share their stories, and create together,” she said.
“A lot of people remember her because of her Home Hints. They also still use her cookbooks, or have had the cookbooks passed down to them from their mothers or aunts or what-have-you.
“Part of this has been sharing stories, so it’s been really interesting to hear about the different connections.”
Marjorie Bligh grew up at Ross, and was a foundational member of the Campbell Town Country Women’s Association. She was known for her knitting and crocheting, especially using materials that otherwise would have gone to waste, such as old stockings, and won hundreds of prizes at the Campbell Town show.
She became a regular contributor commenting on domestic crafts for various Tasmanian media outlets, and was especially beloved for her Home Hints column in the Advocate newspaper.
By the time she died in Devonport in 2013, Bligh had self-published six books, on cooking, gardening, and home handicrafts. She bequeathed many of her personal items to the Queen Victoria Museum, where they will be on display from April 2019.
Ms Bartlett said Bligh was a fastidious record keeper. In keeping with that tradition, she has kept careful note of the details of the yarn-bombing project.
So far, the group’s 128 members have knitted panels to be sewn together around the museum infrastructure consisting of: 526 full balls of unwanted yarn, 354 half balls of yarn, 306 scraps of yarn, 140 small plastic bags, 358 medium sized plastic bags, 33 large plastic bags, 38 pairs of damaged knee high stockings, 90 pairs of full stockings, and 28 bits of fabric, all donated.
The panels will be put on display in March; the culmination of 10 months worth of monthly working bees in Launceston, funded by a grant from TasWater.
Panels have also been mailed to the museum from contributors in Hobart.
Ms Bartlett said that this was the perfect time for a large-scale craft community craft project and exhibition.
“There’s been such a resurgence now with crocheting and knitting and things that are handmade,” she said.
“I think people are starting to get back to basics a little bit.”