Knitting News

Many yarns, one fine knitter | Toronto Star

Many yarns, one fine knitter
Toronto Star - January 30 2006

Aaaay, what you knitting there, Jim?
A cozy scarf? Good idea — if our winter ever comes. Easy, too. Compared to all those sweaters, socks, toques and whatnot you've strung together over the years.
Funny, eh? Big guy like you, addicted to knitting since you were 6 years old.
But here's the thing, Jim. After 74 winters of needlework, we figure you're ready for your biggest skein of all:
Purling and looping us through the warp and woof of your life. And it starts right here ... [more]

World Cup Scarf Fever | News & Star

World Cup Scarf Fever
News & Star - January 31 2006

Have you ever tried knitting?
Football fans are trying to knit a scarf in time for the World Cup in June.
But this is not just any old scarf, it is hoped that it will be the world’s longest football scarf!
The target is to knit a scarf that is 60km long and so far, more than 420 volunteers have knitted 10km of the scarf, so they still have a long way to go.
The scarf is in Germany but some sections of it have been sent from places as far away as America.
Organisers say that anyone with a pair of needles can join in. [more]

Knitters, crocheters can show off talents to aid adoption agency | Anchorage Daily News

Knitters, crocheters can show off talents to aid adoption agency
Anchorage Daily News - January 31 2006

This week a young couple I know returned from China with their newly adopted son. My heart rejoices with them as they open their home and their hearts to this child through adoption. Congratulations!
...You may be asking, "What has this to do with knitting or crocheting?" Marilyn Barnett, chairperson of the Quilt, Fiber & Wearable Arts Auction, tells me that this March 4 event creates an opportunity for knitters and crocheters to show off their talents. At the same time, you will be supporting families who are considering adoption. The auction will help raise money for the Pregnancy Support & Adoption Services at Catholic Social Services by providing money for staffing. [more]

Fresh Idea: Handmade Knitting Projects | KUTV

Fresh Idea: Handmade Knitting Projects [with video[
KUTV - January 30 2006

When you think of knitting you may think of mittens or sweaters. But, in this Fresh Idea, Michelle King shows us some out-of-the-ordinary knit creations.
Did your grandmother ever knit you a sweater for Christmas and you weren't too excited about it? Well, now you can create some hip fashions with the help of some very untraditional yarns.
“This isn't your Grandmas yarn shop. We're taking all the old stuff and putting a hip spin and that's what makes it fun,” said Somer Gardiner, owner of Soul Spun Yarn. [more]

Real-life Role Model: A community stitched together | The Albuquerque Tribune

Real-life Role Model: A community stitched together
The Albuquerque Tribune - January 30 2006

At Lavaland Elementary, an after-school knitting club is more than just a learning group. It's a time when yarns are spun and kids get to hang out with the adults in their lives.
When teacher Jo-Ann Lynch wore her new scarf to school last year, it caused a sensation of sorts.
She knitted it herself after a friend retaught her the craft her grandmother had handed down.
Lynch's students were fascinated.
"Will you show me how?" one pleaded, the question that launched knitting at Lavaland Elementary School, 501 57th N.W.
Brianna invited a friend who invited her friend who invited her friend. One member of the original group has knitted 21 scarves.
Students, teachers, parents and grandmothers, as many as 25 at a time, show up for the Tuesday and Thursday knitting classes after school in the Lavaland library.
Knitting's not just for girls. A few boys are really into it. [more]

Living in a knitter's paradise | Fairbanks News-Miner

Living in a knitter's paradise
Fairbanks News-Miner - January 30 2006

Count Leah Walker among those lucky few who live their passion--24/7. A knitting fanatic since the age of 7, it's no accident Walker is surrounded with a variety of colorful, luxuriant yarns.
The longtime proprietor of Inua Wool Shoppe started her shop on a shoestring budget 15 and a half years ago in her two-story log home on Henderson Road. Walker wanted to be home with her son, who was entering ninth grade at the time. In the intervening years, she has considered moving the shop into Fairbanks, but the natural setting of her home is in harmony not only with the natural fiber merchandise she stocks but her philosophy as well.
"Inua is the Inupiat word for spirit," Walker explained, "and your spirit goes into knitting and the connection to nature and people and what makes the world go round ... I believe everything in nature has a spirit."
The shop's gentle greeter is "Quidam, the yarn dog." The rescued greyhound racing dog enjoys quietly curling up near Walker's dining room table where Walker is often found teaching or encouraging customers who frequently become friends. [more]

Pensioners taught art of graffiti | BBC News

Headline Pensioners taught art of graffiti
BBC News - January 28 2006

Grandparents got to grips with graffiti while teenagers tried their hands at bingo and knitting, during a generation swap workshop in Kent.
It is part of a pilot project run by Maidstone Youth Forum in an attempt to address problems with youths and breakdown generational stereotypes. [more]

Get hooked | The Times

Get hooked
The Times - January 29 2006

Barbara Coulter, artist and a coordinator of Chesterton Art Center's exhibit "The Art of Wool," sees her rug-hooking medium of choice swinging up in terms of popularity.
"It kind of died out for a while, but there's been a real revival of it," she said. "There's always going to be the desire to maintain the arts and crafts of the past and doing the things the way our mothers and grandmothers used to do."
Celebrating the opening of the exhibit with a reception Feb. 5 at Chesterton Art Center, "Wool" features the work of more than a dozen wool artists, also known to its participants as hookers, from Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. [more]

Volunteer Spotlight - Joan Duffy | Orlando Sentinel

Volunteer Spotlight - Joan Duffy
Orlando Sentinel - January 29 2006

Knitting is more than a pastime for Joan Duffy. It is more than a way to use her talents while watching television.
The afghans she knits are part of the mission of the Crafty Ladies, a group of Lake Helen women who use their skills to enrich the lives of others in the community.
The colorful blankets are given to each of the 2,000 children who visit Camp Boggy Creek in Cassia. The free camp is for children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses. Children with heart or kidney disease or other ailments use the camp during weekends and summer vacations. [more]

Spinster? Is that like a knitter? | The Globe and Mail

Spinster? Is that like a knitter?
The Globe and Mail - January 28 2006

Until last month, the Cambridge Dictionary defined spinster as a "woman who is not married, especially a woman who is no longer young and seems unlikely ever to marry."
...The word appeared as far back as 1362, in Piers Plowman by William Langland. In the 19th century, it described an unmarried woman who spun cloth to earn her keep.
"That's the meaning as I knew it -- a woman with a spinning wheel in her home -- but it was code for a woman who couldn't get a man," says Astra Blaug, 78, a member of the Older Feminists' Network. "When I first read about spinsters in a legal sense, I was shocked because it's certainly pejorative." [more]