Saying it with socks

29 April 2016

Saying it with socks

Hand knitted woolly socks, a pack of pineapple lumps and a personal letter are winging their way to international students coming to study at Lincoln University, a uniquely Kiwi way of saying welcome.

International and Student Engagement Director Dee Coleman says Lincoln has students arriving from over 60 countries each year. “When we looked at our source countries we realised that a lot of our students hail from warm climates and although intrigued by a Kiwi winter, can often come unprepared. Our aim is to keep them warm with some good old fashioned Kiwi hospitality and what better way than with some home spun and hand knitted South Island woolly socks.”

The socks are hand knitted by a group of Darfield spinning and knitting enthusiasts, headed up by Pip Anderson and Ruth Buttle. Retired from a life of farming in the district, Ruth still spins her own wool despite no longer having a dedicated flock of black sheep for the purpose. She buys wool, cards it and spins it on a foot pedal operated spinning wheel into double ply wool. It takes a minimum of two hours to spin one ball of wool.

Neighbour Pip Anderson borrowed the knitting pattern after seeing the socks on sale at a country fair and realising they were made by Ruth. The two have taken on the task of producing 40 pairs of socks made from pure New Zealand wool for Lincoln University, destined for locations around the world. Pip says they are aiming to keep the colours neutral with splashes of colour so that they look natural and hand made.

Ruth says spinning and knitting are still popular pastimes for rural New Zealand women and that projects like this are an excellent opportunity to get together.

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