Take knitting to the next level at festival
ONE thread of Jacqui Fink's yarn would make a mighty fine scarf, but knitting it together has brought her worldwide attention.
Her oversized knitted pieces take pride of place on walls at the opera house in Dubai, Sofitel in Sydney and in homes around the world.
Jacqui pioneered the art of extreme knitting in Australia, named for the oversized needles and unconventionally thick yarn made from unspun wool fibres, or woollen tops, she uses to make her creations.
She will be sharing her unique skills with Warwick next week for the Jumpers and Jazz Festival.
Establishing her business Little Dandelion in 2012, she started by felting woollen tops at home to make the unspun fibres a more robust, larger-than-life yarn.
"Regular yarn didn't exist on a really large scale and that kind of knitting didn't interest me,” she said.
"I really love the sensory feedback of working with big materials.”
Extreme knitting has now become a global trend and Jacqui said she had built a strong fan base for her materials in America.
Assisting others to create aesthetically pleasing pieces is only one aspect of her craft. As a long-term battler of anxiety and depression for many years she has also found knitting helpful for mindfulness.
"You get your whole body involved in the ritual and rhythm and all of a sudden you are meditating,” she said.
Jacqui said she was looking forward to sharing her journey with participants at her extreme knitting workshop.
For more information phone 46610434.
