Charlottetown Library hosts textile crafts club

by Nash Alonto 

Jan. 31, 2024 

Donna Jackson likes to knit types of clothing, as well as doing other types of textile crafting. She was one a few people that showed up for Fibre Arts Club at the Charlottetown Library Learning Centre every Tuesday afternoon. It’s weekly casual activity where people develop their craft in textile art, as well as to socialize. (photo by Nash Alonto)

Donna Jackson sat down knitting a pair of wool socks were red with a blue collar and blue hexagonal prints. Jackson had been working on them for three weeks and she felt good about it, knowing she will be able to finish them. 

The room was quiet nothing colourful other than a painting of three torn-up coloured cloth hanged in a wall of the room. Only three balls of yarn of different colours were on the middle table. 

“It’s kind of neat. You can bring something you’ve been working on, and someone can give you some ideas on how to improve it or go in a different direction,” she said. 

Jackson recently retired from her job in the provincial government. She was one of three women who attended Fibre Arts Club at the Charlottetown Library Learning Centre on Jan. 30. She first heard about the club in late May of last year, when she stopped by at the library one Tuesday afternoon to return some books.  

The group invited Jackson to come by the following week. 

The best part about the weekly activity was the conversations they have while knitting, Jackson said. 

The idea of a weekly Fibre Arts Club was inspired by the success of similar activities in other libraries on the Island, said librarian and organizer Susan Forsythe. 

“We know a lot of people who love to craft and love to socialize,” Forsythe said. 

Up to a dozen people usually attend the weekly activity, she said. 

Donna Jackson knitting a pair of red wool socks. (photo by Nash Alonto)

“It’s a ‘come in and go’, we have people who come regularly…and then we have people who come once a month. It’s not a required (activity), but people just show up when they can…it’s a very casual thing,” she said. 

Forsythe hopes that with spring approaching, she hopes more people will be getting out and about to attend Fibre Arts Club in the following Tuesdays ahead. 

“The fun part about it is we get to see people’s projects, but we get to catch up. We’re sort of friends now,” she said. 

Meanwhile, Jackson looks forward to creating other types of textile crafting, such as making felt teddy bears.