All the knitting and crocheting paid off. The rugs are here

April 23, 2026

Oberon can be a cold place in winter, so a few years ago a project was started by Lexi Kellam and Lynne Webb for the Oberon U3A Fleece, Fibre, Felt and Yarn Group. It was to create some small rugs for audience members at the Malachi Gilmore Hall to keep themselves warm on cold October nights.

It all started in October 2022 when balls of natural raw wool were spun using wool supplied by Cress Dawson of Mount Olive. The spinners at the time shared the Malachi foyer with the weaving of extensions to the Grand Drape.

The project had two aims. Firstly, to create lap rugs for use in cool weather by members of the audience at Malachi events and secondly to involve interested community members in the ongoing progress of Malachi's redevelopment. In May, 2023, a group of knitters got together in the Malachi's foyer to start creating the rugs. Each knitter (or crochetter) created squares which were then assembled into rugs.

In April, 2024, another "knit in" was held to make more squares and rugs. About twenty people gathered in the foyer again and keeping their fingers warm with a nice fire, got those needles and hooks clicking nicely. So nicely, in fact, that as spinner Lexi Kellam said: "We are having trouble spinning the yarn quickly enough".

In May, 2025, the knitters returned for the "Cast Off".

And now the final product of the project is on display. 53 rugs which are available at every performance at the Malachi.

This isn't just something for the Malachi or the U3A group - it showed how to bring a community together for a project where nobody made money, they just made things for other people to enjoy. And that's what the word "community" means.

The result of all the work was on display at the Malachi on April 18 and 19.

The rug collection, waiting for the next chilly concert.

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