Irma Ferchoff fondly remembers being eight years old, watching as her mother knit miniature skates.
“I’d say, ‘Mom, [go] slower,’ because I was trying to do the knitting the way she was, but she was so fast,” Ferchoff told CBC Radio’s Edmonton AM.
“She would slow down and show me how the stitches go and then she’d start hurrying up again.”
Edmonton AM4:32Tiny skates that make a big impact
Violets is the name of a small shop along 95th Street in Little Italy. The shop has a very special item in stock right now. Tara McCarthy visits one of the shop owners, Danielle Ferchoff, and her 91-year-old grandmother, Irma.
It didn’t take long for Ferchoff to get the hang of things. Nowadays she can make a pair of tiny skates in less than a half-hour — not that she’s timing herself.
Ferchoff, now 91, carries on her mother’s tradition by knitting mittens, tuques, foot warmers and tiny skates to be sold at Violets, a boutique in Edmonton’s Little Italy co-owned by her granddaughter, Danielle Ferchoff.
Danielle said the shop started selling Irma’s skates in 2022 and is now making it an annual fundraiser.
“We wear them on our jackets all the time and everyone was [asking], ‘Where do you get those little skates?'” she said.
“She was really excited when I said we could start selling these and donate the money to charity or initiatives in the neighbourhood.”
All proceeds from sales of these tiny skates, knitted by 91-year-old Irma Ferchoff, will be donated to Boyle Street Community Services and WIN House. (Submitted by Danielle Ferchoff)
The skates start at $5 a pair. All proceeds will be donated to Boyle Street Community Services, which supports individuals and families experiencing homelessness and poverty, as well as WIN House, which offers women, non-binary people and children a safe place to flee domestic violence.
The response from customers has been positive, Danielle said.
Some buy the skates as corporate gifts, and even message the shop online to pick out a colour.
“It’s really nice to see that all the proceeds are going to charity,” Danielle said. “It’s really fun, so it’s just been really great.”
Irma has knitted more than 500 pairs of skates this year. As of Dec. 13, they had sold 282 pairs so far, raising $2,250.
Besides being pinned onto coats, they can be hung on holiday trees or attached to gift tags.
It’s a family affair. After she knits each skate, Irma hands them over to her daughter Judy.
Judy sews them up and gives them back to Irma, who then attaches the laces.
Knitting is a soothing pastime, Irma said. She loves seeing people wear the skates she makes.
“They’re doing something for somebody,” she said.
“If people look at them and think they’re nice, well, that’s good.”
Danielle said skate sales will end on Dec. 24. Proceeds will be delivered to both charities in the first week of January.