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Fig. 4.4 A cardigan knitted by Pauline for her grandson (photograph taken by Sarah Marie Hall)
for local and global issues. Pauline had never considered selling these items for money, preferring that they ‘benefit a person who buys it, and the charity that it’s gone to’ (taped discussion, March 2015). Often these charities were lacking in funding, or were offering home-made goods to vulnerable communities, and so this was also entwined with notions of personal and social austerity. Moreover, the making and mending skills Pauline had acquired initially developed out of necessity, from knitting school jumpers for her sons with the primary purpose of saving money (field diary, August 2015). That her crafting knowledge and the material creations were being put to another purpose, and for different people, also speaks to the idea of intimate material proximities. Pauline’s knitting skills were being shared and employed across time and for different purposes, ultimately benefiting unknown but nevertheless cared-for
