Kevin’s kindness
For the past 30 years, Anglicare Aged Care Services client Kevin Archie has knitted rainbow-coloured beanies and sent them overseas for children in need.
Kevin (95) of Montello was ‘number 6’ in a dairy farming family with 10 children. He grew up at Gunns Plains and Upper Natone and after that, King Island.
“My mother was kept very busy,” he recalls. “She always had a pair of knitting needles in her hands and knitted many pairs of socks. When I was six years old she encouraged me to give it a try. I learned using four-inch nails because we didn’t have any spare needles.”
Kevin graduated to proper needles and his first project was a pair of socks without a heel.
His skills quickly developed and over the years he made many jumpers, often using wool that he had dyed and spun himself. There’s one that he particularly treasures that is knitted with alpaca wool.
“When I first started the beanies I had a target of 100 a year and I made it, but now I’m slowing down a bit,” said Kevin. “It’s something I do in between watching television and playing on my Ipad.
I’d encourage anyone to take it up. It’s a good pastime, especially as you get older. I get a lot of pleasure out of it.
Kevin says that getting out and about “keeps him going.” Anglicare supports him to make twice-weekly trips to the Burnie Senior Citizens Club and Burnie Community House. He likes to play Crib and Five Hundred there with friends and once a month they come to his house for an extra session.
He’s been promised “a humdinger of a party” by the team at the Community House to mark his 95th and he’s looking forward to it very much.
