| Sewing Supplies
home > Sewing Supplies
Info Center > Knitting Neighbors
Knitting Neighbors
 By
Beth Potier, Harvard University Gazette Staff
From National Public Radio to pierced teenagers in the yarn store,
everyone knows that knitting is suddenly cool. It's the "new
yoga," says one magazine article; it's part of a post-Sept.
11 trend toward cocooning, say psychologists.
In the basement of Harvard's Loeb House, seven women surrounded
by plump skeins of yarn and half-finished sweaters shake their heads
in disbelief. "I'm amazed to find myself part of something
that's hot," says Diana Stewart, who recently returned to knitting
after a 60-year hiatus.
Stewart, former co-master of Lowell House, and her fellow knitters
are members of Harvard Neighbors' newly formed knitting group. While
no one admits that they were drawn to the group by knitting's newfound
hipness, they're not surprised that the centuries-old craft is gaining
in popularity.
"Other people take Prozac, then there are those of us who just
knit," says Jennifer Kotilaine, associate secretary to the
University and leader of the knitting group. Between bites of her
lunch, Kotilaine surveys a bear-sized pullover she's knitting for
her husband. He's so tall, she says, that she needs to purchase
more heathery gray wool to lengthen the sweater's arms.
At the other end of the spectrum, Lillian DeBacker and Carolina
Carbó show off small yellow squares; both are new knitters
practicing their stitches before graduating to a real project. Ina
Luch pieces together a tiny cardigan she knit from yarn scraps donated
to the group; in turn, she plans to give the sweater away, possibly
to a local children's hospital.
From teaching newcomers to sharing yarn and swapping patterns, a
spirit of generosity runs through knitters. The group plans to take
on a charitable project - perhaps knitting newborn hats for a hospital
- once all members master the basics of knit and purl.
Stewart witnessed knitters' generosity firsthand when a group she
was involved with, the Women's Commission on Refugee Women and Children,
collected 32 tons of yarn from knitters around the country for women
in the former Yugoslavia several years ago. The yarn was needed
not so much so women could create garments to sell, says Stewart,
but because trauma experts found that knitting encouraged women
to talk to each other about the horror of war, thus healing their
emotional scars.
On the peaceful edge of Harvard Yard, Harvard Neighbors' knitting
group similarly connects its members with conversation and camaraderie.
For Luch and Carbó, from Germany and Argentina, respectively,
it's a low-key way to brush up their English skills. They, along
with DeBacker, are all wives of recently transplanted researchers;
the casual gossip and friendly chatter of the knitter's group helps
them find their way in the Harvard community.
New friends, English lessons, handmade sweaters ... try getting
all that from yoga class.
http://www.thesheepshack.com/articles.shtml
|
