43
Group knits for those in need
Some of Saturday’s participants made caps for children in Head Start programs.
CANFIELD — Knitting needles flashed in the sun as nimble fingers turned piles of yarn into caps and other items.
Members of the Western Reserve Knitting Guild spent Saturday afternoon in Canfield on the Green knitting as part of World Wide Knit in Public Day.
The event raises public awareness of the craft, said Lynne Janis of Boardman.
“People come by and say, ‘Oh, yeah, I used to knit. Maybe I should try it,’” she said. “And I also think when young children come by sometimes that encourages them to want to start.”
Getting started can be simple, she said.
“Knowing just how to do the knit stitch, you can do a lot with that,“ Janis said. “You can knit scarves and little purses, things like that.”
Janis learned to knit in Girl Scouts when she was in fifth grade. Now she’s teaching her grandchildren.
“They get excited that they can actually make something,” she said.
Knitting is relaxing and challenging, Janis said. It’s also portable, making it easy to do in doctor’s offices, airports and on planes.
The Guild has participated in Knit in Public Days in the past, at baseball and hockey games, said Martha Largent of Canfield.
The group also does a lot of charity work, Largent said. Some of Saturday’s participants made caps for children in Head Start programs. Guild members made about 300 hats last year.
They also make hats for premature babies at area hospitals and scarves and shawls for cancer patients.
She makes a lot of caps and finds it rewarding, said Gretchen Saunders, Ellsworth Township.
“These kids that are receiving these caps, this may be the only hat, scarf or gloves and mittens that they have,” she said.
Saunders, now in her 60s, has been knitting since she was 5.
“My mother taught me to knit,” she said. “I’ve just had a lot of enjoyable time [knitting].”
World Wide Knit in Public Days started in 2005 as a way to get knitters together and show the public that the tradition of hand-knitting and crocheting is not a dead craft. It started with 25 locations in one country and expanded to more than 200 events in 10 countries.
The Western Reserve Knitting Guild meets the second Tuesday of each month in Fair Park.