MCM LONDON - MAY 2023 Nathan Foad & Con ONeill

MCM LONDON - MAY 2023 • Nathan Foad & Con O’Neill

Oh MAN!!! I forgot about this one! This was actually for a Zine about a billion years ago??? I really enjoyed working on it tbh

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

the need to talk about the characters vs the fear that all of my analysis is just empty prose and surface level understanding

"How's this?"

"Huh," says Wee John as he leans in to inspect Izzy's knitting. "You did a whole row without fucking up!"

The comment rankles, Izzy's shoulders hunching as he tugs his needles closer to his chest. Knitting has been. Well. It's been harder than he thought. Wee John can knit without even looking at his needles, just the steady clack-clack while he chats and knits at the same time.

Izzy meanwhile still needs to keep his eyes on the wool and the needles and think about the order of the movements.

Wee John pats him on the shoulder, his large hand resting there. "Well done."

Izzy huffs as he looks at his row. He supposed that compared to the previous rows, it looks better. "Thanks." Another pat and the hand leaves. "How do I fix this?" He gestures at the holes in the previous rows.

"Leave that in for now," says Wee John.

"Because you think I can't?"

"I mean, yeah, it's more advanced. But also this way you can see your own progress and how you've improved."

Izzy stays silent at that. "Yeah. Yeah, all right." He likes that thought.

"And if anyone asks," adds Wee John, "you tell 'em those holes are on purpose."

Izzy snorts at that and catches the resulting huff of laughter from Wee John. He smiles and continues to knit. "Thanks."

Namib Web-footed Gecko (Pachydactylus rangei), family Gekkonidae, found in the deserts of SW Africa

photograph by Jadene Chapman