Ellee Seymour

Kate knits away in Cambridge today

Kate promised me that she would position herself in a public place today and get knitting for World Wide Knit In Public Day. And she kept her word.

Although a solitary figure, she was joined in spirit by hundreds of others around the globe keen to promote the craft’s revival. It is no longer just enjoyed by grannies as celebs have taken it up, enthused Kate.

Kate, chief exec of Headway Cambridgeshire, of which I am a trustee, returned home in time for the England game and sent me this pic during the interval.

She said:

“Why do I love knitting? Well, I find it like a kind of meditation – very soothing and restful. I enjoy the creativity of making something and of experimenting with different yarns. I particularly enjoy making gifts for other people, they often seem to appreciate the fact that you have evidently spent hours making something with them in mind almost more than the actual item itself. I enjoy making blankets, scarves, shawls, scarves, gloves and socks perhaps more than making traditional jumpers, as the fit and size isn’t so important and I’m not very patient at making sure I take accurate measurements! It can also be a very social activity – I get together with a group of other knitters in Cambridge and we meet up twice a month to knit together and chat and to admire each others’ handiwork!”

I love a good yarn, but have too much on my plate to take up this new hobby, although I used to enjoy patchwork sewing. I wonder what the tourists thought of Kate knitting away outside King’s College……

Last Tango comes to Cambridgeshire

If there was any need to prove that sex sells tickets, then our village play did that last night. The parish room was packed to capacity for Stretham Players’ hilarious rendition of Last Tango in Little Grimley, based around an amateur theatre group desperate for a sell out show. The suggestive and erotic title of the play did the trick. It also worked magic in our village.

In fact, it was a stormingly good show, performed by a brilliant local cast with builder Chris Adams, publisher Stephen Adamson, mum of five Maureen Hutter and arty housewife Carole Gentry, and has already won two awards. They staged it at the Cambridge Drama Festival and came third - and Maureen won best actress.

I know some older folk were concerned about the possibility of nudity in last night’s show (there was, but it was all suggestive), and it certainly packed in more people than our showtime evening, during which I made my musical debut.

Last Tango will be a hard act to follow. I have suggested we write our own local version of Desperate Housewives, that should be quite revealing and would put bums on seats.

Update 19th June 2006: Stretham Players beware, this is what the leading thinks of Last Tango today.