Karla Courtney was overwhelmed with emotion as she walked into the Canadian Museum of History, taking a first look at her handknit sweater proudly sitting on a mannequin.
A knitting passion project dedicated to her beloved Blue Jays has turned into a piece of sports memorabilia woven into Canadian history.
“I don’t know why it’s making me cry,” said Karla Courtney as she approached the garment she created last fall, while the jays battled through the post season.
“Can I hug it? Am I allowed to touch it now that it’s in a museum?” asked Courtney, as she reached for the article that once captured the attention of people around the world, now preserved for generations to come.
“Even if I was dreaming of something that would happen as a knitter and baseball fan with these things colliding, not even in my wildest dreams would I think that something I’ve made would be in this type of institution.”
Her sweater is now part of the nation’s largest sports collection.
“We think sports can tell great stories about Canada, Canadian identity,” said Sarah Barnes, the museum’s curator of sport and leisure. She added, “This seemed like a way to go beyond just the record books or the stats and really talk about how sport is lived in the country.”
Courtney started the playoff sweater when the Toronto Blue Jays entered the post-season last year. Only knitting on game days, the garment and a remarkable story of sports power to unite took shape.
“This is a wonderful way to remember the spirit and passion and excitement that was behind this team during this incredible playoff run,” said Barnes.
Courtney is a lifelong Blue Jays fan who now lives in Brighton, U.K., where she first cast the sweater. She says it helped keep her going during late night games while she watched alone.
“First of all, to kind of calm my nerves but also to say, ‘The Blue Jays are going to the end of the World Series because I have to finish this sweater,’ so I only knitted it on game days,” said Courtney. And as she kept knitting, the Jays kept winning.
She eventually returned home to Toronto last fall to catch her team in person, honouring a lifelong dream of watching the team compete in the post-season while knitting inside the Rogers Centre.
A kiss and a mustard stain
The sweater began to take on a life of its own, with fans recognizing Courtney at the ballpark or at watch parties where she continued to knit.
The sweater was even kissed by Blue Jays Manager John Schneider outside the Rogers Centre.
It is the work of 15 baseball games with some prominent memories stained into its colours: There’s mustard on it from a footlong hotdog, and a brown spot across the front from when Courtney dropped her yarn in the excitement of Addison Barger’s grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers. She had been watching from Nathan Phillips Square at the time.
“The thing that makes me feel the most emotional is the string that I left hanging on the cuff in game seven,” said Coutney, who admitted she didn’t finish the sweater because of how the World Series ended.
“It’s not because I wanted to leave that string left out, (but) because there were still two outs and it didn’t go quite the way we wanted it to,” said Courtney.
The sweater, now in the hands of the Canadian Museum of History has gone through a quarantine process, standard for any new items acquired by the museum to ensure they don’t integrate any unwanted guests into the collection, like moths.
“I’m happy the sweater gets to live here. It’s a Canadian sweater, the Canadian story. And now, it’s kind of in the heart of Canada I guess.”
Family connection
Her journey with the Jays started when she was just seven years old. During summers spent in Newfoundland, her grandmother taught her how to knit while watching the boys.
“I would knit and we’d watch the baseball games, I’d knit sweaters for my toys,” said Courtney, who admits her grandmother might not be able to comprehend all of what has happened with this sweater and its ability to unite.
“She knit for utility, so my grandma used to rear her own sheep, shear the sheep and had had her fleece turned into wool. She knit almost everything that my family wore,” said Courtney, who gets emotional just speaking about the woman who inspired her.
Her grandmother would send her fleece to Briggs and Little Woolen Mills Ltd. In New Brunswick. That same mill has now created a special “Jays Blue” colour of yarn in honour of this story and to help other fans with their own creations.
“The story carries extra meaning for us because Karla’s grandmother sent her own fleece to Briggs & Little to be spun into yarn — a tradition shared by many families from Newfoundland,” said Leah Little, speaking on behalf of the mill.
“To see that connection come full circle, from generations past to a sweater being knit with our yarn by hundreds of people, is truly special.”
Courtney has knit another sweater, which she wears proudly, having replaced the original one now acquired by the museum.
“The fact that I get to now, even though it isn’t the original one, that it’s made with wool where my grandmother used to send her fleece is so special.”
Knitters and Jays fans unite
With so many people admiring the sweater and its story, Courtney has drafted a pattern to help others create their own. A portion of proceeds goes to Jays Care Foundation, the charitable arm of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The pattern does not include the Jays logo, due to ownership rights, but Courtney says she offers tips for how people can create their own, encouraging other knitters to try their hand at making a sweater.
“This isn’t mine, it’s everybody’s. I mean, the internet made it popular, you made it popular,” she said, gesturing to CTV News’ cameras. “I think everybody should be a part of it.”
This season, Courtney plans to make a “season scarf,” and encourages all knitters – beginner and experienced alike – to join in. Every game, she does a blue stripe for a win and a white stripe for a loss.
“There’s a little more loss wool than I’d like to see now, but it is only April and I think the Blue Jays know that white space is a trending design, so I don’t mind a little bit of white space,” Courtney said with a laugh.
