Introducing Hyacinth, one of my visually impaired Hand Knitting students, who is subject 27 of the fabulous 1000 Londoners film project.
She is 1 of 3 visually impaired knitting students that I currently teach at South Thames College, Tooting Broadway. The courses are Adult Education and not therapy, so they are open to all.
Hyacinth couldn’t knit at all when she started, but she had heard about another visually impaired student, Felicity, who is a bit of a star knitter and so wanted to give it a go herself. I enrolled Hyacinth on the course for the advanced knitters to give her plenty of support from more experienced knitters, including Felicity.
She fitted in perfectly – her enthusiasm and quick sense of humour soon made her a very popular member of the class. She also got started very quickly, taking instruction from my spoken words and you can see her first garment, a Paddington Bear-style jacket, in the film. You can also see some of Felicity’s exquisite work at 2:06 in the film. Felicity was too shy to be featured in the film, but she’s very proud that her beautiful silk/mohair cardigan has been given a wonderful close-up!
I couldn’t be more proud of them – Hyacinth’s journey to class involves a bus, a train and the tube to Tooting Broadway. She normally makes the journey on her own, she’s rarely late and always arrives with a smile. She’s a real inspiration to others on the course.