Crafty figures keep the Olympic flame burning

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Crafty figures keep the Olympic flame burning

Thursday, September 27, 2012

CRAFT - CHRIS Greatbatch may have made the most but Fiona Williams made the winner . . . and now library users are nominating their own favourites.

Since a collection of 17 knitted renditions of Olympian figures last week went on display at the HB Williams Memorial Library, they have been a hit with library users of all ages. But their creators, a group of Tolaga Bay Area School teachers, said they had no idea their sport-themed craft pieces would be so popular.

“We just thought it would be an interesting and fun way to help get our kids interested in the whole Olympic Games process,” said Mrs Greatbatch, who knitted figures for cycling, javelin, kayaking, rowing and tennis.

And help was at hand from fellow teachers Marsha Wilcox (equestrian), Jenny Cains (judo) and Fiona Williams (swimming, weightlifting and shot put) — plus school whanau member Lorraine McLaughlin (hockey) — to help knit the figures.

The pattern for the basic human form was gleaned from a library book while the crafty crew came up with the accessories — from a kayak to a horse — themselves.

So when the Olympic Games came to an end, they thought they’d offer for them to be displayed back where that original pattern was sourced . . . at the Gisborne public library.

They were going to be shown in the children’s section but customer services librarian Kerry Bigelow thought they would be more accessible to all users if they were in a glass case, right in the middle of the building.

As if that wasn’t enough, Mrs Bigelow has been posting images of individual figures onto the library’s facebook page, just to keep the Olympic flame burning.

“People have been coming in especially to look at them and so far the cyclist has been a hit –—even though the bike isn’t actually knitted — and the equestrian one is pretty popular, too,” she said.

“But, obviously, the shot putter is getting the most attention since Valerie Adams is our gold medal winner.”

AN OLYMPIAN EFFORT: Library users Riley (left) and Briana Ingoe recall Olympic glory via the eccentric figures knitted to inspire children to engage with the games. Picture by Paul Rickard

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