Week 34 - Jackie

Adventurous. Considered. Caring. Helpful.

Jackie on a trip to Georgia

I meet Jackie at Cafe Momo, a busy cafe within the bounds of the University of Canberra.  A steady stream of public servants, identified by the tags around their necks, students and food delivery men pass in and out.  It is a cold day and black puffer jackets are the go.  I arrived by bus, little early, so watch the cafe people prepare toasties, muffins and coffees.  The time has been picked to coincide with naptime.

Jackie is meeting me during her break in Canberra.  Her husband is a public servant with a current posting in the UK.  When she arrives we chat about the part of London they are living in as I too have lived in the area.  It has a lot to offer.

Work in progress

Jackie tells me about her current work in progress, a jumper for her child.  It had been started and frogged and started again.  Jackie anticipates it will be finished before the start of the northern hemisphere winter.  Her toddler is in size two.  She likes to have something always on the go but does not have as much time to knit, plan the knitting or the complete projects as she did before she became a mother.  We veer off topic and talk about how babies adapt to different time zones, with hers, being particularly adept and slotting back into a sleep routine.  The return journey to London will be broken by a couple of nights in Singapore and this will help them all get back to a regular pattern of sleep.

Jackie has lived in a number of places.  Her first foray into knitting groups was in Santiago.   She had been teaching English on a project working for the government, and when that project finished she stayed on in Sanitago for a while longer.  Jackie admits she is more introverted and finds joining new things makes her a little anxious but she was helped by an outgoing South African, part of the larger ex-pat community, who ran a group and included Jackie in her group. Jackie’s social life expanded, she met others, including her husband.

Joining the craft group was a way to meet new people but also use the the new skills she had acquired.  Her mother taught her how to knit when Jackie returned to live with her parents after her university and teaching degrees and was looking for things to fill her time. Jackie tried three times before she go the hang of knitting.  She completed a scarf in Rowan Colourscape Chunky.  One of the problems about moving so much is things get lost along the way but she still has the scarf even though the rolled edge is annoying.  As Jackie moved onto small items of friend’s babies her mother assisted with dropped stitches.  Jackie admits she is not a good enough knitter to set a sleeve but knitting in the round is both pleasurable and something she has become skilled at.

Completed Stephen West Mystery Knit Along

Her skill is evident in her completed Stephen West Mystery Knit along.  Jackie picked up a Stephen West pattern during lockdown.  Her paid work, as a teaching assistant had moved online, and found she could knit while watching what was happening on the screen.  The instructions for Stephen West patterns are good but the videos clarify anything that is unclear. The 2025 Stephen West shawl is Jackie’s best thing she has ever made because it was made with radom colours she already owned but they all complimented each other, there are few!mistakes and it is finished.

Jackie knew the benefit of joining a craft group from her experience in Santiago so when she arrived in Australia she looked for a group to join.  She did not have paid employment for 6 months so it gave her somewhere to go: a regular hook for her week, but also as much social interaction as she wanted.  If you are working on something a little challenging you do not have to engage with conversation, but can sit and do with others.  It is a little like parallel play toddlers do; everyone does their own thing but in a collaborative and social space.  As the Canberra group is Facebook based it also gives Jackie a connection to hold onto while she is living in London.  She can keep in touch with the members of the group she knows, see what they have completed on Finish it Fridays and what their current work in on Work in Progress Wednesdays.  It will also give her something to slot back into when she does return; a group, where she is known. 

Eisbert bear.

I know from personal experience that when you move between houses and countries things get lost.  The thing that always travels with Jackie is her teddy bear.  Eisbert, a now very flat white polar bear Bear was given to her, by her parents, while she was in hospital as a child.  The gift was accepted then thrown up on.  Bear survived the dowsing and has gone to travel to the same destinations as Jackie.  

The steady stream of cafe visitors has slowed.  Customers are returning to work places or lecture halls. The staff are now clearing tables and clearing up work spaces that had been churning out toasties, pies and pastries.  The coffee machine is still making noise. Our time has come to an end.  I wish Jackie well on her travels and know that I will see her again once her family relocates back to Australia.