One Killucan woman went way and beyond this Christmas when she knitted a remarkable 670 socks to raise funds for LARCC. LARCC cares for people living with cancer and their families through a range of support services, which are offered free of charge.
By Claire Corrigan
Lily Davitt who is a member of Cairde, the Killucan active retirement club, has knitted with the club for the past eight years, has broken all previous records this year with the amazing feat.
The centre provides a supportive environment where patients and family members can participate in courses, obtain information and advice and gain comfort from the range of treatments and therapies on offer.
Speaking to Topic, Nonie Farrelly who is also a member of Cairde said Lily has been a member of the club since it began. “Lilly is a member of Cairde which is the active retirement club in Killucan and it has roughly about 100 members. It serves Rathwire and Raharney. They meet up Tuesday’s and do activities like Bridge, Bowls and knitting. It also has a book club and exercise activites as well. They also have day trips and weekends away on a foreign holiday once a year in October.”
Nonie co-ordinates the knitting club and said that lily is far and away the quickest member with a knitting needle. “We knit twice a year roughly and Lily is by far our best knitter. We knit little Christmas stockings which we start in late September, early October. We also knit Easter chicks that you see in the shops and they have a Cadbury Creme egg in them. They roughly sell at about €2 each and all the money we raise from them goes to LARCC.”
She said, Lily has always been a fantastic knitter and was known for her woven wares. “Long before I knew who Lily was, I used to admire her beautiful Aran jumpers. She knitted for all her family and her grandchildren but she said that they have come to the stage now where they don’t want her to knit for them anymore so she has started knitting with us.”
She said Lily is helped by her daughter who helps her stitch the knitted wool together. “Her daughter is very good to her. Lily does all the knitting and her daughter will do all the sewing up and do any decorative features that needs to be done.”
Nonie said that Lily finds knitting a fun and enjoyable way to spend an evening. “She loves to knit and she says it passes the time. She’s delighted to be doing something for charity and we certainly love having her knit with us. We have about twelve knitters and we do about forty or fifty socks between us, depending on the humour, but Lily makes up for the rest of us. She also encourages us to see the importance of knitting and that money can be made, quite easily, in your own home for a charity just by knitting.”
