Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/458251
S P R I N G 2 0 1 5 | W E S T W O R L D 15 fine baby shawl, just because she had the wool; and Pat, who has been coming to the knitting retreats since 2002. There's an incredible variety of work in progress – coats and lacy shawls, booties, patchwork, socks and sweaters. Retreat orga- nizer Wendy Toye, wearing one of her wonder- ful hand-knit tunics, is here to help when needed and to demonstrate new techniques. She hovers over Jill and her daughter Quinn, aged 7, both first-time knitters. The sight of those little-girl fingers struggling with thick wool and fat needles takes me back to the kitchen of my childhood when my mother leaned over to help as I poked at the yarn, try- ing to get the stitches right. She taught me the beginning stitch . . . "in, over, through and off." Now knitting is part of my life. I always have two or three projects on the go and if the pat- tern is simple, I prop up a book to read while my fingers do the work. Knit one, purl one, cast on, cast off, knit two together – simple man- tras, rhythmic and repetitive like the beating of a happy heart. (anks, mum, for all the help.) Knitting by hand, once thought in danger of extinction as the machinery of industry took over, is back in fashion. No longer "old granny" work, it is being seen as the perfect antidote to the technological frenzy. Next to yoga, it is the up-and-coming activity. (Celeb- rity knitters include Kate Middleton, Meryl Streep, Margaret Atwood, Ryan Gosling and former Australian prime minister Julia Gil- lard.) Knitting can be done alone or with friends, on a bus or in front of the TV. On Lake Titicaca, Peru, the men on the tiny island of Taquile exercise their bodies as well as their minds: they knit their caps and ponchos while walking around the village, multicoloured yarns tucked into a pocketed apron. Knitting has been proved a calming activ- ity, decreasing stress, lowering blood pressure and helping to manage pain and anxiety. It alters brain chemistry, stimulating the produc- tion of "good hormones" – the same soothing effects, perhaps, as sitting in the abbey church as the monks chant the ancient liturgies. e Benedictines have been around for a very long time – some 1,500 years. Their Gregorian chants were the first music to be written down, and, through their work in copying (clockwise from left) Doris Hill, Joanne Felstrom and Peggy Gwillim, just knitting; a warm splash of colour from the abbey's stained glass; knitting retreat group; retreat organizer Wendy Toye shows Doris Sabean a new stitch; seven-year-old Quinn Volk masters the big needles; Father Demetrius meditates while the group knits in the abbey church.