Man in stitches

79-year-old Max Lucas is ‘knot’ your average stitcher.

The dad, grandad, busy volunteer and self-proclaimed cranky husband started stitchwork during the COVID-19 lockdowns as something to do to fill the time.

His colourful works of art are far from ordinary, with each creation having its own funky theme.

‘Things I’m sorry for’ and ‘old man sayings’ are just two of his wacky designs, with his latest work in progress based on ‘tasty sounding words.’

“I just think of an idea, grab the yarn and go with it,” Max says.

“It gives me something do to while I sit in front of the telly, and it’s something I can pick up when I feel like it.”

Max is a man of many talents, with an artistic eye for painting and a stint spent dabbling in knitting.

While he may not be recognisable without a bright red suit and a red hat, he has also spent years listening to children’s Christmas wishes as Eastgate Mall’s Father Christmas.

When painting became too messy and knitting lacked enough creative freedom, Max settled on stitchwork as his new artistic hobby.

The craft is quite a time-consuming process with each square taking around one week to complete, putting an entire piece at three or four months of work.

“Eventually, my wife decided my works were taking up too much cupboard space in our home, so I needed to find somewhere new for them to live,” Max says.

“Years ago, I had some of my paintings on display at Linwood Library, so I bit the bullet and asked if they wanted to have my stitchwork up there this time round.”

His hobby that started purely out of boredom is now on display for all to see, with almost all of Max’s stitchwork and knitting creations on view at the library.

Check out the work of Eastside’s Santa over the next few weeks, hanging on display and enclosed in cases around the library.