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Some knit gains

Charitable projects are helping invigorate knitters.

By SUZANNE PALMER
Published November 20, 2006

	Deborah Castelli's hands deftly knit a poncho while other members of the St. Anthony's Knitters work on their projects.
[Times photo: Willie J. Allen Jr.]

ST. PETERSBURG -- For the St. Anthony's Knitters, yarn and needles are tools to carry their goodwill around the world.

U.S. soldiers in Iraq wear the caps and helmet liners the knitters make. Needy children in Alaska wear their warm mittens, hats and scarves. Next up: Babies in Third World nations served by the Save the Children organization will wear tiny caps created by St. Anthony's Knitters during the group's twice-monthly meetings in the hospital cafeteria.

But they still can't quite get over the e-mail they received nearly a year ago from Army Spc. Kevin Wulff, who wrote to thank the women for the box of caps they sent, without knowing anything about Wulff or his unit.

"It's funny, but 28 years ago I was born on the third floor of St. Anthony's," he wrote. "Getting this package means so much to me and the soldiers."

Deborah Castelli, who cofounded the group in 2002, e-mailed news of this stunning coincidence to members in bold capital letters.

The St. Anthony's Knitters are far from the only people wielding their needles purely for the benefit of others.

Betty Christiansen's Knitting for Peace profiles 20 charitable causes that use handknits to meet some of the most basic needs of those they serve. Christiansen touches on well-known charities like Warm Up America!, Afghans for Afghans and the Linus Project, but she also includes lesser known but no less noble projects.

Adopt-a-Native-Elder accepts wool socks for Amer-ican Indian seniors. Founder and fiber artist Linda Myers found the needs of the "grandmothers and grandfathers" on the reservations to be great. Her program donates food, warm clothing and medical supplies. To address the clothing need, weaver Ricki Darling organized Ricki's Knit Socks for Native Elders. The effort is based on the Navajo tradition of the Giveaway Circle at which participants bring the best they have to give to others. Knitters provide gifts of socks, hats, scarves and blankets.

Rebirth of a trend

Charity isn't the only reason people are taking up knitting.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Americans began nesting, and for many, that meant developing more human relationships. Knitting fit the bill for millions.

"There's a social aspect which is driving this trend," said Richard Brown, chairman of the Craft Yarn Council of America, the yarn industry's trade association. "More and more people want to be a part of the communities of knitters and crocheters."

In addition to Christiansen's, a diverse selection of knitting books were published this fall - including one coauthored by comedian Tracey Ullman. It's doubtful they would have found readers, much less publishers, even five years ago.

- Knitting with Balls: A Hands-on Guide to Knitting for the Modern Man by Michael del Vecchio contains patterns for male-oriented projects like a wallet and business card holder, a double-knitted laptop cover and a wonderful adaptation of popular tribal tattoos called the Tribal Sweater. Del Vecchio is editor of Menknit.net, a quarterly online zine. The site explores the history of men knitting, teaches how to get started and offers links to men's knitting groups, blogs and a forum for sharing.

- Knit 2 Together by Ullman and fiber shop owner Mel Clark is full of contemporary patterns and easy to understand tips that shed light on some of knitting's conundrums. "Sew a long tail of yarn into a sideseam," Clark suggests, "and you'll always have mending material." Ullman's self-deprecating humor runs as commentary throughout, making for fun reading. Patterns for things like Witches Britches, knitted dreadlocks and a substantial doctor's bag are both edgy and fun.

- For those who'd rather admire knitters than actually knit, In Praise of the Needlewoman by Gail Carolyn Sirna showcases nearly 200 works of art depicting women knitting, crocheting, sewing, weaving and doing needlepoint. Included are works by van Gogh, Renoir and Monet, Mary Cassatt, Jean-Francois Millet and Paul Cezanne.

Read all about it

- Knitting for Peace by Betty Christiansen (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 132 pages, $19.95).

- Knitting with Balls: A Hands-On Guide to Knitting for the Modern Man by Michael del Vecchio (DK Publishing, 160 pages, $20).

- Knit 2 Together by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 168 pages, $27.50).

- In Praise of the Needlewoman by Gail Carolyn Sirna (Merrell, 192 pages, $34.95).

[Last modified November 20, 2006, 05:51:03]