For our April 2025 Member Spotlight, we invited member Janine MacDonald to tell us about herself. Knitting is only one of Janine’s pursuits. She’s a committed crafter and maker as well as a homebuilder, and for her there’s no finish line! Read on to learn why Janine doubts there can be such a thing as a “process knitter.”
What is it about knitting that attracts you and how has knitting served you over the years?
For me knitting is one of many crafts that I enjoy doing. (I quilt, sew, crochet, embroider and cross stitch.) Working with my hands and producing beautiful and useful items makes my life feel complete. If I do not have some art/craft project in hand, I feel a void and inevitably, I will find something.
I started knitting as a child. My mother was always generous with her time and knowledge. She would show the basics and then leave me to figure it out, allowing me to make mistakes so that I could learn. Very frustrating at times, but ultimately, instructive and helpful.
Do you feel you have an aptitude for knitting or is it something you have to “work at?”
I think it is necessary to “work at” anything I undertake whether that is knitting, drawing blueprints for a renovation, throwing a pot, or relining a vintage jacket for my sister. In every case, I want my results to be as good as I can make them; it doesn’t matter what it is. So I look for information, techniques, advice…and all of them allow me to bring the things that I undertake closer to my vision.
I am also blessed with an aptitude for absorbing some of this information and applying it, as I have “the ability to visualize three-dimensional entities from two-dimensional displays – a ‘gift’ that has relevance for artistic things, design matters, creativity, problem solving and systems development” (so says the skills/personality report based on testing in 1975—go figure!!)
As I tackle each project I find ways to make things better, and practice results in improvements. For instance, with the Izzy dolls that are my current preoccupation, I am using double pointed needles and I am finding my hands are getting “smarter.” Working with those needles in such a small space was a bit of a chore with the first doll, but it is getting easier and easier. I love that!
Improvement also comes from exposure to lessons by way of other knitters, knit retreats, knitting guild resources, internet resources. These are a rich trove of information and inspiration.
Image: 3 of Janine’s adorable Izzy Dolls, lying on her Noro blanket, which is mentioned below.
What is your professional and/or academic background? How, if at all, does knitting fit with that?
I have multiple degrees—MBA, Graduate Diploma in Gerontology, and, later in life, I spent four years at Sheridan College for Crafts and Design, specializing in ceramics. These degrees are related in the sense that they are all about learning—a skill needed in knitting among so many other endeavours.
Which weights and fibres do you most like to knit with? And what kinds of things do you knit?
I will knit with any weight of yarn. It depends on what I want to make. I mix yarns, I deconstruct yarns…all in the service of the idea of something.
I knit hats mainly—love hats! I am inspired by images, things other people are wearing, patterns… This winter I knit 17 hats. It started with hats for a sister who was going through chemo, then one for each of the grandkids….and now it has run its course. I am sure I will make hats again at some point in the future, but now my attention has turned to Izzy dolls and bears. Again, images, patterns, colours, different yarns. (I just disassembled a boucle/accent yarn and I am using the boucle with a mohair thread to make the bear and am very happy with the resulting texture).
What knitted item are you most proud of? What did you learn while working on it?
A blanket that is truly reversible! Every square can be “read” from either side. I frogged a Noro vest to make it, and it took ten years to complete.
After frogging, I deconstructed the Noro yarn into its constituent colours (in other words, short little bits of yarn that I wanted to knit into the blanket. What possessed me, who knows?) The design involved individual squares that I joined together. I reknit each of those squares three times as I was not satisfied with the result and, as I learned new skills, it gave me the chance to get closer to the result I had in mind.
While knitting the blanket, I used a wonderful technique I learned at a knit retreat—“spit splicing.” My goodness, what a revelation! It allowed me to create each square seamlessly.
Later, I learned “provisional cast on” from my sister. This solved another problem standing in the way of getting the finish that I had in mind. So, I knit all of the squares again!
Anyway—love that blanket—use it every day—and pleased with the fact that I persevered.
Do you consider yourself to be a process knitter or a product knitter? Give us an example?
It is hard to see how a process can be evaluated without an end in mind, so I don’t really think there can be such a thing as a process knitter. Creativity and productivity must be built upon techniques. In other words, process doesn’t stand alone. It undergirds product in the service of one’s vision.
How inclined are you to follow standard practices, pattern instructions, and rules?
I find it hard to faithfully follow a pattern. I am apt to make changes on the fly, to try something without swatching, to look at something and think “I can make that” and then just start. This can get me in trouble and then I have to take it out and start again.
I have been working hard at recording what I have done so I can replicate it later—not always a strength of mine—and then I don’t have to reinvent the wheel again!
Right now, with the little bears, I made myself follow the pattern the first time, but…..well, not happy with the foot finish, so I used provisional cast on to get the finish I was looking for. Then I didn’t love the way the head of the bear looked, so I added a row in the middle of the pattern to come closer to my vision. I wanted a decorative flower, and with the lesson from a friend, managed to get a flower/leaves that I was happy with.
How long have you been a member of the Toronto Knitters Guild? How has the guild contributed to your knitting skills and knowledge?
I joined the guild in 2021. The guild is wonderful. Resources, monthly meetings with interesting experts (love that the talks are available for later viewing – in the event I cannot participate in real time), encouraged me to join Ravelry (which is a treasure trove as well), and access to special events like the tour of the quilts at the ROM and the tour of the fabric art at the AGO.
