Look in just about any knitter’s bag, backpack or purse, and chances are you will find a WIP – work in progress – tucked inside; maybe some socks, a shawl or a scarf.
Some knitters take this to the extreme – bringing their projects to the unlikeliest of places to get in a few rows or rounds.
For the second year in a row, a group of mostly local women are gracing the pages of the “Extreme Knitting” calendar, doing what they love doing, knitting, of course, but doing it in places many people wouldn’t expect: In a snowy field, on a paddleboard in the middle of a lake, while rock climbing.
And it’s for a good cause, with money from calendar sales going to organizations of the models’ choice.
The list is varied (you can see it in the calendar), and includes local organizations such as San Juan Citizens Alliance, VOA Durango Southwest Safehouse and Durango Adult Education Center, among a host of others, including nonprofits outside the Four Corners.
Where to find the calendar
The “Extreme Knitting 2025” calendar is available locally at:
Durango Sustainable Goods, 1259 Main Ave.
Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.
Meadow Market, 688 Edgemont Meadows Road.
Sticks and Stones Handmade, 922 Main Ave.
Stitch, 858 Main Ave., Ste. 102.
And online at Etsy: https://tinyurl.com/7kwecxn4.
Betsy Fitzpatrick, the calendar’s creator, said “Extreme Knitting” was a long time coming – from the photo taken of her by her husband, John, that inspired it, to the final product – 14 or 15 years, in fact.
“We were camping with the kids out at Muley Point (Utah), and in the morning, I was sitting there in our camp chair with my sun hat on and I was knitting,” she said. “John took a photo of me, and he put it on Facebook and said, ‘Extreme knitting at Muley Point,’ or something like that, very tongue in cheek. A response to his post from friends, and then we were off and running with this tongue-in-cheek ‘extreme knitting.’ My knitting does go with me everywhere: If I’m backpacking, I’ve got knitting tucked in the top of my pack. If I’m hiking, car camping, you name it, I’ve got my knitting along.”
As time went on, “extreme knitting” became more of a concerted effort, she said, especially when John switched careers and became a photographer.
“It was just a nice marriage – pun intended – of our interests,” Fitzpatrick said. “He takes most of the photos for the calendar, and that’s why I’m in a lot of them. But I’m really trying to expand to get other people. ... It’s supposed to be celebrating all the fun people who like to knit in unorthodox or unpredictable places.”
Some of the unexpected places knitters have been photographed for both 2024 and 2025 calendars include: Dog sledding through the San Juan Mountains (2024); kayaking off the coast of Orcas Island (Washington, 2024); hanging out in Grand Tetons National Park (2025); and soaking in backcountry hot springs in Colorado (2025).
Along with each month’s photo, the calendar also includes a caption detailing the project the knitter is working on, so those who knit can find the project and make one of their own.
“I figured a lot of the people buying this calendar are true knitting fanatics, and it’s just so fun, even if you can’t always tell from the photo what that project looks like, I think it’s a fun way to share,” Fitzpatrick said. “Just to make it have those little Easter eggs for the knitters that are tucked in the calendar.”
Like a lot of knitters, Fitzpatrick initially learned the craft when she was young (age 7) and put her needles down for years, only to pick them back up when she was older.
“I never really was a knitter until after college, and then I got a wild hair and I decided I wanted to make myself a sweater, because who wouldn’t want to start with a sweater? I made a sweater, and it was pretty pathetic, but I finished it. I was very proud of myself,” she said, adding that after that, a friend who had been knitting for a long time sat her down and got her going in the right direction.
“It’s just such a happy, joyful form of creativity,” she said. “I’ve always been someone who likes things that combine beauty with function – something I can make with my own hands but then it has a practical application. I like to cook, I bake, I knit ... I wouldn’t call myself an artist, more of a creator or a maker-type of mindset.”
With the money the inaugural calendar brought in last year, Fitzpatrick said she was able to donate $2,000, which she split between two organizations: 4 Corners K-9 Search and Rescue, a Farmington-based nonprofit that, according to its website, helps “locate, rescue, and recover lost and missing persons on Native American Tribal lands.” Money was also donated to a project on Shetland that helps continue to island’s tradition of Fair Isle knitting by teaching the technique to schoolchildren. That donation was suggested to Fitzpatrick by Anne Eunson, who lives on Shetland, who is April 2024’s model. While you may not be familiar with her name, you’ve probably seen the fence she knitted out of twine that became a viral sensation online.
“My husband is from Scotland originally, and we try to go to Scotland every year. We were going to be on Shetland, so I reached out to her,” Fitzpatrick said. “We met at the Shetland Textile Museum, and she posed for the photos. And I said, ‘OK, I’m not in a position to pay a modeling fee, but I would be happy to give proceeds to a charity of your choosing.’ ... That was a nice way to honor her for having agreed to this project.”
And while the calendars are fun to make and serve as a way to give back, Fitzpatrick said there’s more to it.
“I look at knitting as not only a source of great personal joy, but it creates such a sense of camaraderie and kinship when you travel or meet new people. It’s a way to connect,” she said. “At a time when we’re all seemingly so divided, I think a lot of that is an illusion, and when we can find the common threads – pun intended – of our shared experience and our and shared creativity, it’s beautiful. I wanted to celebrate knitting, but also, I wanted to subvert the image that knitters are stodgy little old ladies who sit around, because knitters come in all sizes, shapes, ages, ethnicities, etc.”
katie@durangoherald.com
