Modernism came to Australian art not via some testosterone-fueled burst of creativity but by an acutely observed painting of a woman knitting a sock. Grace Cossington Smith's The Sock Knitter, painted in 1915, is regarded as Australia's first post-Impressionist picture. Painted against the backdrop of war, the image is a reminder of women's unheralded efforts at home.
![Illustration: Jim Pavlidis.](/web/20170225192912im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/g/w/e/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gugwfp.png/1487562219403.jpg)
As a six-year-old, Katie Brennan kicked seven goals in her brother's under-8 side, an incredible first step on a journey that's taken her to the captaincy of the highly-fancied Bulldogs AFLW team.
There's plenty more to come in her footy adventure but she'll be ready, as exemplified by this spell of scarf knitting. The Queensland-born Brennan knows that the success of the AFLW will inevitably lead to the introduction of more teams and a season that will stretch deep into winter, when that scarf will be essential.