The mark of a knitter: cheap pants and selflessness
Lexington Herald-Leader
Funny thing about knitters: They will wear an exquisitely beautiful sweater with pants from Goodwill. Why? Because they spent $200 on yarn and had no money to buy pants. Anyone who fits this description would feel right at home in Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's world. In her new book, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting, McPhee, who will be at the Bluegrass Festival of Books later this month, describes the inhabitants of the land of Knitting, their language and their oddly endearing ways.
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A skein of Irish heritage inspiration
The Chicago Tribune
Niamh O'Maille is an anomaly in Ireland. She's 29 years old and loves to knit. Niamh (pronounced naeve) comes by it naturally. Her grandfather and uncles founded O'Maille (O'Mawlya), a famous shop for hand-knit Aran sweaters in Galway. But unlike in the States, where knitting is a hip chick trend, in Ireland the craft is a casualty of progress. After more than a century of gloom, Ireland is on an economic high. But as the pace of life picks up, Irish women no longer have time to knit. O'Maille employs about 170 knitters on the west coast of Ireland. Most are elderly. Some young women are discovering knitting, Niamh says, "but not to the extent that you could run a successful business." O'Maille opened in 1938, selling custom tweed suits. But when Niamh's uncle Padriac met Aran Island women selling hats, socks and sweaters at the local market, he started carrying those, and they eventually became the core of the business. The shop is now owned by Niamh's parents, Anne and Ger (who were on holiday when I visited). Niamh mostly helps with the company's Web site ( www.omaille.com).
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Wesknitters "knit it to give it"
The Wesleyan Argus
During winter break, Jennifer Garcia '10 gave her aunt, who was undergoing chemotherapy at the time, a scarf she had knitted as a gift. This gift would give Garcia the inspiration to create a new knitting club on campus. "She ended up loving it, and told me that hospitals give cancer patients knitted items to keep them warm," Garcia said. "I had always noticed that many people around campus knit, so I decided to get in contact with knitters I knew to see if they would be interested in knitting for hospitals in our area." Elizabeth Trammell '10 was attracted to the club not only because of the charitable focus, but because she finds knitting to be a relaxing activity.
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Fancy Fiber Options
Express-News
Not only has knitting made a comeback, it has become downright trendy. And those who have been bitten by the knitting bug find themselves craving more designer yarns. That craze, along with her own love for the craft, prompted Melanie Smith to open her Yarnivore store. "I wanted a place where addicted knitters, such as myself, could get their fix. That is why the slogan of the store is 'Feed your need,'" Smith said with a laugh. "It really is an obsession. Once you get into knitting, you just can't stop."
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Needle artists knit history into coming generations
Anchorage Daily News
If you ask around, you'll find that almost everyone has something knitted, crocheted, embroidered or quilted. Think about this for a bit, and I think you'll agree. Does your family have a crocheted afghan that Grammy made? Remember those "grannie squares"? I know of several friends who still have the moth-eaten remains of a multicolored, grannie-square afghan Mom or Grandma made years ago. They wouldn't dream of giving it up. Last fall, Anchorage first lady Deborah Bonito spoke about her "blankie." This brightly colored blanket was crocheted by her mother for Bonito to take to college as a reminder of home and family. She has kept it all these years, and it still holds a place in her heart.
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Group puts its needles together for charities
Detroit Free Press
Some fun ladies have been knitting and crocheting in Roseville for charities, and they hope you'll join them. The Saturday Slip Stitchers will have a special meeting on Saturday, 1-4 p.m., at the Jo-Ann fabric and craft store. It's the group's fifth anniversary and members will be on hand to answer any questions about the group and about the blankets, lap robes, hats and winter items they make for needy families, school children, chemotherapy patients and premature infants.
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Knitting for guys? It might be worth a shot
The Star Press
If knitting is so relaxing for women, as I am reliably informed it is, knitting would probably be relaxing for men, too. This is undoubtedly what's behind the word that's beginning to filter out of Danner's Books -- which now is also a major knitting emporium -- that starting a knitting club for guys is under consideration. I was enthusiastically informed of this last week by my friend and fellow newsman, Lathay Pegues. "Can you believe it?" he said, excitedly. "What kind of stupid idea is that?" But then I began to explain the benefits, like refreshments. I happen to know that when one women's knitting club gets together at Danner's, they have to clean their needles after every meeting, just to scrape all the cheesecake off of them.
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Changing the world one stitch at a time
National Post
Knitting, once the exclusive domain of the grandmother set lovingly churning out soft-coloured baby sweaters, is now just as likely to be a tool of the revolution. Along with the regular "stitch and bitch" sessions held in knitters' living rooms, there are now "knit-ins" to draw attention to political causes; the amount of knitted donations reaching various charities has proliferated along with the explosion in the craft's popularity; and even the language used by this new brand of knitter sounds an awful lot like activist-speak. In Calgary, the Revolutionary Knitting Circle meets at an independent cafe once a week. Over mugs of fair-trade coffee and bowls of vegan chili, they share their techniques and talk politics.
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Old art of knitting catching on with younger generation
Winona Daily News
When Shana Williams picks up her needles and yarn, she feels a connection to her aunt Betty. “She taught me to knit when I was in the second grade, and I’ve been doing it since then,” the 23-year-old substitute teacher said while knitting slippers in her Stockton home. “Every Wednesday night, I used to sit there for hours.” With new techniques such as felting and fancy materials available today, the historic craft isn’t just for grandmas anymore. For young women like Williams, it’s hip to knit. “Over the last 20 years women have been getting back into (crafts),” said Tamara Berg, director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Winona State University.
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Liz Peloquin of Manville knits an afghan for Project Linus
The Independent
Some say it has been a hobby that is now being put toward a good cause. From teenager's to retirees, women sat Monday afternoon knitting afghans that they have been creating for the past month. These women are creating something bigger than your average sweater. They are making afghans that will be donated to children who need a little warmth during the year's coldest months.
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Tight-knit friends start online yarn business
The Independent
Life is very mysterious, and sometimes stumbling onto the wrong path for a while can lead you to your "dream come true." That is what happened to single mom Debbie Friedlander-D'Angelo, of Hazlet, who was forced to leave a high-stress job in the corporate world six years ago when she became disabled. Now, she's doing something she had always dreamed about. "I've always wanted to do this, my entire life," she said of the fine imported yarn business she co-owns with Hazlet knitting buddy Kaye Lewis. "I have more yarn in my house than most local yarn stores do. It's so tactile. It's beautiful. You can create things, from the stupidest little thing to the most glorious sweater. You watch it coming off your needles, and it's such a rush." Friedlander-D'Angelo said she first met Lewis about a year ago, when she joined a knitting group after losing her foot due to diabetes complications.
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Yarn shop opens near campus
The Gamecock
Dr. Ann Steinberg, a Dayton chiropractor and president of the local Kiwanis chapter, has been working these past few months to connect the knitters of the Dayton Senior Center and the teens at the Dayton Teen Club who want to learn how to knit and crochet for a cause. Knitters of Columbia, rejoice and raise your double pointed needles in triumph! You no longer have to drive out to Irmo to get your yarn fix! In the Loop is a new yarn shop on Devine Street that opened in January. The shop is housed in a deceptively tiny cottage, but it contains more yarn than anyone can shake a pointy stick at. Stock includes everything from Debbie Bliss to Blue Sky Alpaca in all sorts of colors. New yarn is shipped in every week, making it easier to stock up your personal supply. If your favorite yarn isn't in stock, In the Loop can order it for you from its Charleston-based sister shop, Knit.
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Generations join hands to make security 'blankies'
Reno Gazette-Journal
Dr. Ann Steinberg, a Dayton chiropractor and president of the local Kiwanis chapter, has been working these past few months to connect the knitters of the Dayton Senior Center and the teens at the Dayton Teen Club who want to learn how to knit and crochet for a cause. The ultimate goal is handcrafting afghans and decorating quilts for the children in the Renown Pediatric Unit in Reno. Busy fingers have already donated about 75 "blankies" to these kids -- many far from home and, understandably, scared. Several weeks ago in Dayton, Steinberg arrived for the first crochet lesson at the Dayton Teen Club laden with yarn, crochet hooks, a CD and DVD on how to crochet. The DVD was quickly ignored and left playing to an empty audience as the group soon reverted to the nothing-beats-hands-on-teaching-by-a-person process.
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Crafting for a Cure set for March 31
Ashland Daily Press
Winter is slowing coming to an end and spring is just around the corner. Maybe you have one or two (maybe three or four) unfinished projects you would like to complete but your get up and go has got up and gone. If that is the case get your unfinished projects together, whether it be quilting, scraping, knitting, sewing, or cross stitch, just to mention a few, then give your friends a call and say, "Have I got an idea!" March 31, beginning at 9 a.m. the Good Shepherd Relay for Life team is sponsoring "A Crafting for the Cure Day."Bring whatever project you would like to finish, or learn a new one, and enjoy yourself with friends as you complete whatever you like. There will be someone there if you would like to learn to knit. A two-hour bulky weight yarn mitten pattern will be provided. The team will also provide "Lizzy and Kate" cross stitch patterns. So you could bring your knitting needles, yarn, thread and fabric and go home with a completed cross-stitch picture or a pair of mittens.
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Calgary students' knitted caps helping save African newborns
Calgary Sun
Using yarn, needles and busy hands, a group of Calgary high school students are helping to save the lives of newborns in the Third World. Eight teens at private West Island College in the southeast have spent the last two months knitting caps to give babies in Ethiopia and Kenya a fighting chance for survival. The students, who teamed up with Save the Children Canada for the project, have knitted 200 colourful caps -- more than any other school across the country. Grade 8 student Erin Baird said she's blown away by the volume of caps she and her peers have contributed.
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Follow the clacking needles
Southern Illinoisan
Greg and Suzan Thomas can spin quite a yarn about the origins of their new shop. Avid knitters both, the rural Williamson County couple were making frequent field trips to Nashville, Tenn., and St. Louis to buy quality yarn for their stress-relieving hobby. Advertisement Advertising Info "There was just no place to get good wool and good yarn," Suzan said. A love of quality yarn - and a dislike of crossing state lines to get it - inspired the couple and became the impetus for The Yarn Shoppe, a new Herrin business that delivers precisely what the name promises. The Yarn Shoppe is a sensory pleasure, for both knitters and the uninitiated. Skeins of rich, colorful yarn adorn every shelf, each roll softer than the one before it.
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Knitwear for babies proving a hit
New Zealand Herald
When Suri Cruise appeared in Vanity Fair, photographed asleep in the arms of father Tom Cruise wearing a cream-coloured knit jersey, Aucklander Justine Turner's website went crazy. Turner runs Just Jussi, an online knitwear business specialising in heirloom knitwear for babies and Suri's appearance in a knitted top gave her valuable - and free - advertising. "There was a real peak in sales after those photos came out," said Turner. "I think around the same time a couple of American baby fashion blogs had picked me up." Although Turner wasn't the creator of Suri's garment, her beautiful and unique handknits are creating a stir in the North American market.
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High school offers knitting, crocheting class
Cathedral City Sun
No pencils. Just needles and yarn for this class. Knitting and crocheting is a new offering at Mt. San Jacinto Continuation High School, started by teacher Barbara Crossey. Besides learning a new skill, the 20 girls and boys in the class also can donate some of the items they make, such as booties and blankets, to teenage mothers, battered women's shelters and the needy. Students who donate will be given double credit. "I've been waiting for this class forever," said Marley Benshalom, 16.
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What's your bag - if you're eco-conscious?
The Chicago Tribune
I love challenges and problem-solving. I like to never say "never." That may explain why, while watching the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts make their way to the Super Bowl, I sat cutting plastic grocery bags into long strips, making balls of plastic "yarn" and then crocheting "string" bags that I could take on my grocery shopping excursion. The challenge and problem to solve, of course, was: How to stem the manufacturing of more of those Earth-unfriendly plastic grocery bags at the checkout line. And to make use of the ones I already had. ("Most plastic bags," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site says, "are made from polyethylene, which is made from crude oil and natural gas, non-renewable resources.")
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Women make clothes for stillborns
The Press-Enterprise
Almost daily, Sami Marty sits watching TV next to a basket full of yarn and ribbon while she crochets pink, blue and multicolored dresses. The 78-year-old Moreno Valley woman has made about 250 gowns plus a number of blankets and hats. When a newborn dies in a local hospital, staff members dress the baby in one of the gowns. The parents are given the gowns and a memory box that includes footprints and photos of the infant.
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Stop me before I knit again
The State
With knitting and crocheting curiously hip again, “Threadbared: Decades of Don’ts from the Sewing and Crafting World” ($17.95, Three Rivers Press) should be a cautionary reminder that just because you can knit something doesn’t mean you should. This campy book by Kimberly Wrenn and Mary Watkins takes us back to the zenith (OK, maybe nadir) of the modern-day craft movement — the 1970s — when homespun shawls, afghan blankets and macrame plant hangers were the height of natural-chic.
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Knitting out the knots
Iowa City Press-Citizen
It's never about the finished product. Area knitters say they pick up their needles every day, not because they need another scarf for the frigid weather, but because they need the rhythmic motion to relax and unwind. Knitting has become an increasingly popular hobby during the past five years, bringing people of all ages to yarn shops and classes. On Thursday afternoon at The Knitting Shoppe, 2141 Muscatine Ave. in Iowa City, a knitting class of about eight women in their 40s, 50s and 60s bent over their work, needles clicking. Many of the women around the table began knitting in just the past year.
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Pullovers perk up penguins
Sunderland Echo
KNITTING nanas are helping penguins p-p-p pick up a pullover. The tiny jumpers will save the lives of stricken penguins across the globe. The woollies for endangered wildlife – which come in different styles and colours – are the creations of pensioners Miriam Whittington and friends Jen Evans. Evelyn Nichols who have spent weeks knitting for the endangered Australian fairy penguins. The women, all from Seaham, are part of an army of kind-hearted volunteers who have given up their time to helping thousands of birds affected by oil spills on the Australian coast.
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Bring your needles and share a good yarn
The Chicago Tribune
Knitting in public used to be something practiced only by grannies and Madame Defarge. But you don't have to be over 50--or a bitter fictional French revolutionary--to whip out the needles when you're away from home these days. People from all walks of life are knitters, and proud to show it off. You see them on the CTA, in coffee shops and in museums. Needles clacking, they talk merrily about life, love and the shared enjoyment of craftiness. Some have even formed groups, which meet for noshing, chatting and knitting in pubs, restaurants and all kinds of other venues.
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Knitting maven needs her needles
The Express Times
Eleanor Swogger's mother refused to teach her to knit -- not out of spite, but because she wanted her daughter to learn to knit the right way. Maybe that's why 48 years after joining the knitting club in elementary school, Swogger, 59, teaches three classes a week -- two at Nazareth's Kraemer Textile and one at Bethlehem's Tangled Yarns -- and almost never puts aside her knitting needles.
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They've been knitting for sew long
Bradenton Herald
Bea Bartlett's hands worked rapidly around circular knitting needles, a lavender hat fit for a baby taking shape between them. Baby booties sat on the table before her, alongside knitting projects boasting different colors, textures and patterns. Bartlett, of Palmetto, sat with four other crafters in the warm Tom Chaires Building on the chilly Manatee County Fairgrounds in Palmetto. It was Day Eight of the Manatee County Fair, which ends Sunday.
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Knitting offers physical, mental therapy for the aging
Jewish News Weekly
Upon first glance, Jean Soffa’s hands are fairly typical for an elderly woman. Wrinkled, faint tributaries of veins visible on her soft skin, fingers slightly crooked from arthritis. But the hands are those of a creator. Soffa, 97, continues to knit and crochet in her old age, a craft she learned when she was just 5 years old. It is so much a part of her past that she cannot imagine a life without it. “It’s my whole … ” She paused. “It’s my whole life. When my husband died, I took to knitting. When my mother died, I took to knitting. I’m wrapped up in it. In knitting.”
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A Masterpiece in Thread
The New York Sun
As one walks through "Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting," which opens today at the Museum of Arts and Design, it is glaringly clear that the term "fiber art," like that of "craft," has become too limited. It inappropriately prejudices the viewer to expect a certain type of experience — one mired in doilies and grandmothers' sweaters — while pinning down the artists whose ideas about materials are sophisticated, entirely fluid, and nondiscriminatory.
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Knitting class to help teenager mothers
The Cathedral City Sun
A community service project is also a class. Barbara Crossey, a teacher at Mt. San Jacinto Continuation High School, will start a new elective: “Knitting and Crocheting.” Items made in the class, such as baby blankets and booties, will be given to teen mothers in the community.
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Knit Valentine hearts for each of your sweethearts
Sun Herald
"Roses are red, violets are blue and if you're a knitter, I'm sure to love you! " "If you will be my Valentine, I will stop in the middle of the row!" "We're knitted together, Valentine!" Maple syrup sappy? Corn better converted to ethanol? Maybe. Then again, maybe it's just love, sweet, sweet love. Valentine's Day brings out sticky sweet, buttered corn sentiments in me and my knitting. Marilyn B., my muse and precious friend, once told me that "I'm in love with love." She was right. And that translates to knitting heart stuff and writing little verses, sappy or non, for Valentine's Day. (I would never tell you that marriage #2 was on Valentine's Day and then I had to reclaim the day!)
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Knitters share purls of wisdom
Connecticut Post
In a quiet corner of the Pequot Library's children's department, young girls curl up on the couch and easy chairs once a month, not with a good book, but a pair of knitting needles. Guided by several library staffers, who call themselves Chicks with Sticks, young knitters have learned the fundamentals of the ancient fiber art since the program began in the fall of 2005. The once-dying tradition has enjoyed a resurgence of interest, according to Pequot Children's Librarian Susan Ei, who said as many as 11 children, most of them girls, attend the workshops.
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Activities outgrow cabin
Detroit News
Members of the knitting group at the Community House comfort themselves with more than warm scarves and sweaters when they gather on Thursdays. The 15 or so women who meet each week have found camaraderie and lifelong friendship as they knit one and pearl two, swapping platitudes on the best way to raise kids and grieving together when one loses a spouse.
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'Friday Night Club' will pull you in
USA Today
If you are looking for an inviting group of gals to spend a few winter evenings with, pull up your afghan (you knitted it yourself, right?) and snuggle in with The Friday Night Knitting Club. Kate Jacobs' breezy first novel reads like Steel Magnolias set in Manhattan. Julia Roberts is already set to star in the movie version of this story about a single mother named Georgia Walker, abandoned by her hunky urban professional beau, James, and left to raise their daughter, Dakota, alone. To survive, she opens a knitting shop that attracts a circle of women who tenuously become friends in the knitting club.
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Club thrives on crafts, company
Bradenton Herald
Geraldine Roche's fingers labored effortlessly as she wound yarn and ribbon around her knitting needles during a recent meeting of the Handicrafts and More Club at the Lakewood Ranch Town Hall. Her homemade creation would later become a poncho. "On cool Sunday mornings I usually wear them to church," she said, making another stitch. "I should have it done by Friday night." The other women laughed. Most had been working on their projects for weeks, even months. But it was all part of the banter of the Handicrafts and More Club, a group of women that gets together to work on various handicrafts.Full Article

"Threadbared" Stop me before I knit again
The Seattle Times
With knitting and crocheting curiously hip again, "Threadbared" should be a cautionary reminder that just because you can knit something doesn't mean you should. This campy book takes us back to the zenith (OK, maybe nadir) of the modern-day craft movement — the 1970s — when homespun shawls, afghan blankets and macramé plant hangers were the height of natural-chic.
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After a little needling, I'm hooked on knitting
The Oregonian
When my friend Joy Neitling invited me to Tangle Knitting Studio at 440 First St. in Lake Oswego, images of my sweet grandmother came to mind. Knitting didn't strike me as the latest craze, but it appears I've been asleep under an afghan somewhere. Last Thursday night, I dropped by. Five minutes after I met Tangle owner Alice Burnham, the door opened and Alex Shafer, a senior at West Linn High School, entered. He's 18 and he was on a mission. Alex wasn't lost. He bought skeins to knit Christmas gifts for his mom, sister and girlfriend. This is no yarn. Full Article

Knitting guild celebrates the holidays
The Villages Daily Sun
There was no shame in giving away a gift as soon as it was received. That was to be expected from an event called an ugly yarn exchange. Members of The Villages Knitting Guild selected yarn from their own stashes and wrapped it up prettily before gathering Monday at Churchill Street Center for the exchange. The thought was that an ornate package could contain some fabulous yarn. “That’s the assumption,” Anita Shapero of Winifred said. “Anyone who has such good taste couldn’t possibly put in ugly yarn.” But that was not necessarily the case.
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Seniors knit hats
The Villages Daily Sun
Almost 250 servicemen and women will be kept a little warmer this winter, as local seniors have been knitting hats to send overseas. The knitted hats are made to fit under the helmets of troops stationed in Iraq in a nationwide effort. Local knitters, including both the Plainville and North Attleboro Council on Aging's weekly knitting groups, have been producing the colorful skull cups.
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Former dancer steps into knitting for needy
Yakima Herald-Republic
After several thousand stitches and about 150 hours of knitting, Elaine Harmon finds her retirement is even busier than her youth, which found her dancing away nearly every night in Los Angeles nightclubs. But the 81-year-old finds knitting -- and sometimes crocheting -- for Project Warm Up with Yakima's Retired and Senior Volunteer Program more satisfying because the pieces go to the needy. Harmon, who enjoys listening to the Beach Boys while knitting hats for cancer patients, does what she loves while keeping people warm.
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Woolly hats will help to raise cash for elderly
Worcester News
The county's elderly people have been doing their bit to raise cash for local services. Members of Age Concern Herefordshire & Worcestershire have been busy knitting little woolly hats to raise money for local services. The hats will go on the lid of Innocent drinks and be sold in Sainsbury's and EAT cafs. For each hat created, Age Concern receives 50p to help older people keep warm this winter.
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Men, women share purls of wisdom
Boston Herald
Should I move my thumb?” 25-year-old Andrea Lee Estrada of South Boston asked Mike Attisha yesterday, as he took her through the first steps of knitting. “Yes, unless you want to knit your thumb into it,” Attisha replied. “But who knows, that could be your thing.” Welcome to Men Who Knit - and the Women Who Love Them. More accurately, it was the second annual StitchFest, sponsored by the Boston chapter of the National Organization for Men Against Sexism, which encourages men to not only knit but also challenge sexist prejudices.
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If you love knitting, consider this group
Arizona Daily Star
Thoughts of knitted sweaters may fill the heads of gift givers and receivers this time of year, but there's more to the stitching technique than clothing. "I'm personally into lace," says Elizabeth Wells, who organizes workshops for the Old Pueblo Knitters. Wells knits doilies for the backs of chairs and to place under glass on bedside stands. She uses the lace as decorative edging for towels.
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No 'baa' humbugs here
Arizona Daily Star
Debbie Ruf was tugging around a small snowman ornament and a fiber sheep as she glanced at the Christmas tree full of creations from members of the Black Sheep Weavers Fiber Guild. The group held its 24th annual holiday sale on Friday and Saturday at Cromaine District Library, where everything from handmade scarves to ornaments were for sale, while various looming, knitting and other craft demonstrations were set up throughout the library.
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Slowed by health, she still touches others
Times Union
A petite woman, Ludmilla Wohland counts her blessings. She has a modest, well-kept apartment, has enough money to get by and has a social circle that she can call on for support. She says she is doing OK but is not ashamed to ask for help. "I get help and I give help," she said. She helps by knitting and crocheting, skills she learned as a child in Slovakia. She donates many creations to Birthright, an organization that helps young, unwed mothers, and to area hospitals.
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Knitting in vogue...but why?
Charlotte Observer
OK, we get it. Knitting is popular. We've seen (some of) the thousands of blogs, and maybe once or twice, gazed at a friend's sweater longingly. But a spate of recent books -- with titles like "Sew Subversive" and subjects like how to knit felt (really?) -- inspired some questions. Is it any cheaper to make your own clothes? Can the quality match mass-produced merchandise? If not, why else would you spend $300 and as many hours making a sweater?
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'Felted' handbags are as fun to make as they are to use
Belleville News-Democrat
Nothing can keep Jeri Iwasczuk down. While recuperating from spine surgery in 2005 and then a second battle with cancer in May, Jeri took the approach that if she had to sit still, she might as well knit wool handbags. Knitting has been a part of her life since she was a girl. "I knitted 300 pairs of cuffs for soldiers' coats to keep them warm during World War II," said Jeri, who is 77. On Wednesday, she and hubby Steve arrived with the results of her most recent creative jag: about 40 soft wool "felted" handbags in a riot of colors and styles. She will be selling them for $18 to $50 on Saturday and Dec. 9 at the Holiday Unique Boutique at the Art on the Square Gallery in downtown Belleville. It's a special two-weekend-only holiday sale of one-of-a-kind items created by area artists and including paintings, jewelry and sculpture.
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Knitting for a cause
The Times
Some of the area's tiniest babies will stay warm, thanks to students at Portage High School. Members of the school's combination knitting and art club are crafting tiny hats that will keep low birthweight babies warm at the hospital. Knitting tiny hats serves a twofold purpose, said Wanda Rice, the club's faculty adviser. Many of the club members are novice knitters, and "this just seemed like a really easy project," she said.
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Craft group turning llama fur into usable yarns
The Lawrence Herald
Judy Ross and her daughter Mitzi Ross raised llamas for years before Billy Bannerman, a master spinner and weaver, taught them how to spin the animals' fur into yarn. Once they learned the craft, the Ross' wanted to share the joy of spinning with others and began the River Cities Fiber Clan, a group that meets to spin, knit, crochet, weave, needle felt, cross stitch, and appliqué.
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