Culture in Quarantine, 23 June 2020: The Mayflower Postal Knitting Challenge

Culture in Quarantine, 23 June 2020: The Mayflower Postal Knitting Challenge

23 June 2020

Our Women’s Craft Collective is one of our regular adult learning groups and it usually meets weekly to craft and create items for local charities. It's comprised of women from all across the city who come together to share their skills and a cuppa.

Given the vital social aspect of a group like this, what has become of it during the recent lockdown? The challenge for us at The Box was to think about how to stay connected with its members and help them stay connected to each other. So, we threw down the gauntlet and created a socially distanced but fun project for them: to work at home on 'The Mayflower Postal Knitting Challenge'.

Members of The Box's Traditional Craft Group with their wool

To tie in with our upcoming 'Mayflower 400: Legend and Legacy' exhibition and the Mayflower 400 commemorations, group members have been learning more about the people who set sail for America in 1620 and have each been assigned a number of passengers to create a hat for.

The hats will go on display at The Box to visually represent the different groupings and families that made up the 102 passengers on the Mayflower. The hats are being made using colours that were common to the clothing of the time. Once the display comes down they'll be donated to the charity 'Apostleship of the Sea', a regular beneficiary of the group.

A member of The Box's Traditional Craft Group with her wool

The group received their wool rations in the post a few weeks ago and set to work on the project with gusto. They've been keeping in touch with each other and The Box through social media and telephone calls. Now restrictions have eased a little, some of them met in a local park recently for a socially distanced knitting session and catch up.

A member of The Box's Traditional Craft Group with her wool

With a brand new venue to look forward to once this period of uncertainty is over, they'll no doubt look forward to getting together properly in the future and showing off their handy work.

Two of the hats knitted by The Box's Traditional Craft Group

with thanks to Joanne Gray, Engagement Officer