Delia Barry, an 83-year-old from Co Tipperary, has become an international sensation thanks to her knitting work on the Oscar-nominated film "The Banshees of Inisherin".
Barry is responsible for knitting the iconic jumpers sported by Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Barry Keoghan in "The Banshess of Inisherin", using Donegal yarn to craft jumpers of royal blue, red, purple, and green.
Delia Barry has been knitting since she was seven years old but only began knitting for films later in life after she was discovered through a cancer support knitting group that she joined after her husband died.
She revealed that she only had about a week to knit each jumper for the "Banshees of Inisherin", while she also had to come up with the patterns herself.
The film's costume designer Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh provided Barry with black-and-white images of fishermen in sweaters from 1921, sometimes only providing a partial image of a chest or shoulder pattern.
Barry, who now lives in Greystones, Co Wicklow, told the Irish Independent that she used "hundreds of scraps of paper" to help her figure out the stitching.
"I did like Colin’s jumper alright when I had figured it out but I didn’t like it when I started it," Barry said, speaking about the now-famous red jumper worn by Colin Farrell.
Her jumpers were so impressive that Esquire Magazine labeled the film the "next great knitwear film".
Barry told craft site Craftix that she donates all of her film earnings to local charity Greystones Cancer Support.
She described knitting as a "hobby" she enjoys to keep her from being bored.
"Knitting is a hobby for me that keeps me from not being bored. I’m one of those people who just has to be doing something with their hands when they’re sitting," she told the Irish Independent.
The Tipperary native was joined on the set of "The Banshees of Inisherin" by veteran tailor Denis Darcy, 80, who made several trousers, waistcoats, and jackets that appeared in the film.
Darcy, who ran his own tailoring business on Capel Street, told the Independent that it was "lovely" to see people still being creative in their 80s.
" I think it is lovely to highlight the fact of positive aging, people in their 80s, still working and being creative," he told the publication.
Watch the trailer for the Oscar-nominated "The Banshees of Inisherin" here:
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