Source: University of Otago
Catherine Barriga is a skilled ‘maker’ – constantly knitting, sewing, quilting and stitching.
Off-Campus profiles the diverse and inspiring out-of-office pursuits of Otago staff. This week, audit and risk officer, and ‘maker’ Catherine Barriga.
Downtime for Catherine Barriga is usually a happy blur of activity.
That’s because Catherine’s a skilled and tenacious ‘maker’ – constantly knitting, sewing, quilting and stitching. Spare minutes are there to be used productively, knitting a new creation, working on a quilt or using a needle and thread to bring fresh life to an item of clothing found in an op shop.
“I try and always make sure that I have portable projects that I can get on with in my tea break or at lunchtime. Embroidery is very portable. It’s amazing that with 10 minutes here and there, you’ve finished something in three months.”
The drive to stay busy might be a product of her Scottish mother or her Catholic schooling – Catherine’s not exactly sure where it comes from. But what she does know is that making allows her to express herself while bringing a sense of peace and fulfilment. It’s also pretty useful – her creations have helped clothe her family and been gifted to friends.
“I like the word ‘maker’ because it has connotations of building something. I do it by hand and it’s a way of putting good energies out into the world, often using resources that are being wasted. But it’s also really good therapy. Everybody will be able to relate to this, because over the last three years everybody has needed an outlet.
“I’ve been making my entire life but in the last few years, people have woken up to the fact that it’s very good for your mental health to be in the quiet using your hands. You’re lost in the moment and it helps to regulate your breathing and your blood pressure. It’s a bit like running, you get quite meditative and you can process stuff even though you don’t necessarily notice that you’re processing it.”
In her day-job as an audit and risk officer, Catherine helps University departments manage risk in their operations and avoid future roadblocks. It’s all about processes, procedures and frameworks –a contrast with her creative endeavours where she takes a more freestyle approach. “I don’t really follow instructions. They’re suggestions as far as I’m concerned.”
Catherine describes knitting, which she was taught by her mother, as her “superpower”. She grew up in Peru and knitted as a child but at school the requirement to follow patterns destroyed her love for it. When she moved to England at the age of 18, long winters and social disconnection were the perfect environment in which to pick up the knitting needles again and also explore other forms of making.
“I remember making handmade gifts for my then-boyfriend now-husband, Martin, (who works in the Health and Safety team) cobbling things together with fabric just trying to figure out ‘Oh, how can I do this?’ He was a cricketer so I made him this little cricket stand. And he collected stamps so I made a stamp album.
“I’ll try my hand at anything but I tend to focus on knitting and quilting. I also do a lot of embroidery. I’ve just picked up cross stitch, which I’m not very good at doing in the way people expect it to be done because it’s a very pattern-driven sort of activity. Knitting and quilting are my main creative outlets. I do make some of my clothes as well, but that’s just because I don’t want to go to the shops. I love op shopping but I hate going to main street shops with brand new goods. It kind of crushes my soul.”
Catherine is adding the names of places she has lived to a 19th century man’s shirt as an art project.
Recently she picked up a 19th century man’s shirt and is using embroidery to repair it and “do a little art project.”
“I’m writing (using embroidery) all the places I’ve lived. I’ve got Peru and all the cities I’ve lived in Peru and then England will be on the other side and New Zealand will probably be on the sleeves which are quite visible. So sometimes it is about processing my feelings about life. We all have things to process about where and how our life has ended up.”
As a fast maker, Catherine has supplied the family with jumpers, vests and cardigans and has to be careful not to fill the house with knitting which won’t be worn.
“It’s a tough balance to manage. I was secretly delighted because my husband’s quite hard on his jumpers. I noticed that his latest jumper was looking a bit raggedy and I thought ‘Oh, great. I can cast something on’.”
For anybody looking to start knitting or sewing, Catherine suggests the getting books from the Dunedin Public Library and the University’s Robertson Library which have “amazing resources”. YouTube is another good resource and there are also a number of craft groups in Dunedin and knitting groups in a couple of the public libraries.
