There is beauty in small things

Art and its value can be found everywhere.

A group of citizens in Tyrrell County have been creating art out of knitted objects.

Frances Smyth, a group member, discussed some of the group’s beginnings.

“When my husband Bill and I moved to Columbia I made friends with a woman named Martha Blount Simpson. We shared knitting as something we enjoyed doing together. We went off to a knitting retreat at Hendersonville at a conference center together. We had a wonderful time up there with a large group of women who were knitting and working on projects,” said Smyth.

Smyth and Simpson came back and decided it would be fun to have a similar group  in Columbia.

“We got together with some people who we knew who enjoyed working on crafts and working with their hands. We extended invitations to people that we knew and then soon we were meeting regularly. Our little group has been meeting together now for about three years,” said Smyth.

Sometimes the group keeps their knitted items, and other times family and friends might need something for a birthday or Christmas present.

“I made a pair of socks for every member of my family this Christmas. A lot of it is wearable stuff,” said Smyth.

Nancy House, a member of the Knit Night group,is a sewer and needle pointer.

“She has made place mats and table coverings. She is finishing projects from twenty and thirty years ago that she had in her attic,” said Smyth.

The process of knitting could be described as an art form.

“There are patterns. Sometimes you can purchase patterns. A pattern can be tweaked or changed. You can make design changes. There are infinite possibilities,” said Smyth.

The Knit Night Group is about more than just the sharing of knitting ideas.

“It is a good excuse for people to get together for fellowship. It is also a good opportunity to be creative,” said Smyth.

The “Knit Night Nuts” meet at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on the first and third Tuesday each month from 6:00-9:00 p.m.

The knitting group is sponsoring a “The Yarn Truck” event on Sunday February 15 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at St. Andrew’s Parish House.

“This truck comes from Kitty Hawk loaded with beautiful yarn and supplies. The owner, Jeanne Schrader, feels that it is her mission to bring fine yarn to small towns for folks that have a hard time getting to a shop in a big city.  She has recently been to Tarboro, Little Washington, Plymouth, Hatteras, and Avon. People can bring their projects and sit and knit, get help with a problem, or just visit and feel the beautiful, soft fiber,” said Smyth describing the event.