As the latest exhibition at the Alnwick Garden shows, just a pair of needles and some wool can create an array of astounding results.

Called Knitted Lives, it celebrates the skills of older women and among the amazing items on display are watches, jewellery, clothing, a mirror and even an apple pie and cutlery.

Local artists Fiona Rutherford and Jenny Burns led the groups of knitters, who met weekly throughout 2008 to talk and make these incredible pieces.

The exhibition runs until May 9, from 10am to 4pm, normal admission prices apply.

When high-flying financier Ruth Herring lost her job at Christmas, she discovered an unusual way to weave her way out of unemployment.

Some people in her predicament might mope around the house in despair, but this 51-year-old saw it as an opportunity to rediscover an old passion - knitting.

Miss Herring, who studied fashion as a youngster, launched a new career teaching knitwear and crochet at South Thames College, and demand for her expertise is growing by the day.

She said: “My job was very stressful. I did it for seven years, and then I was made redundant out of the blue.
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Knitting classes gave Linda Altenhof a reason to get out of her pajamas in the morning and get going three years ago when she lost her job after 28 years.

Sher Gunden King learned the craft from her grandmother when she was 12, but began knitting in earnest while battling serious depression six years ago. Teaching her daughter helped bring her out of the illness.

Now the two are among a group forming YO! (Yarn Overcomers!), whose aim is to help the unemployed, underemployed and those affected by Elkhart County's struggling economy to cope with the stress in their lives by knitting.

"I have brothers and sisters affected by unemployment," Gunden King said.

She wanted to personally respond and began asking others to help. Things just began falling into place, she said, including the committee, supplies and venues for classes.
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Although the mission of The Sheep Shack is to sell yarn, Team Sheep Shack is working to “Keep the Fleece.”

Keep the Fleece is a worldwide event designed to raise $250,000 for Heifer Project International by knitting the world’s longest scarf. Participants in Keep the Fleece are asked to make a donation based on the rows knitted or inches woven.

The money raised will be used by Heifer Project to purchase fleece-bearing animals for needy families all around the world. Heifer will also provide the families with the necessary training so that they can nurture and grow their herds and become self-sufficient.
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More and more yarn companies are looking at different ways to make their yarns a little more eco friendly, and one of Caron's forays into greener knitting is Simply Soft Eco, an acrylic yarn made with 20 percent polyester.

What makes it a more eco-conscious yarn is that 20 percent, which is made from recycled plastic bottles. Each skein of yarn takes 60 percent of a bottle out of the waste stream, and Caron says it's saved a million bottles from being trashed in the production of the yarn.

It may not be the greenest choice out there, but for people who like acrylic yarns and the idea of having a little less impact on the planet, this yarn is a good choice.

Source: About.com

Climbing around on the jungle gym may be fun for some kids — but for more than 45 girls and boys at Mary A. White Elementary School, knitting is the thing to do.

The students are freely giving up their lunchtime recess to knit with retired women from the community. Every Friday, students in the fourth- and fifth-grade meet in the school's library with Principal Valerie Livingston, volunteer Mary Kay Alguire and about 10 other volunteers.
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She rarely goes anywhere without it.

No, it’s not a credit card; it’s her knitting.

Marilyn Felix first learned the craft when she was in the first grade in England, where she was born and raised. Since then, it has become a lifelong interest.

“In those days in England, they used to teach knitting because they thought it was a pretty good eye and hand coordination thing,” she said. “I think it’s sad that children these days don’t learn these things.”
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Hard times are good times for the knitting business.

After 9/11, the craft saw a huge boom. Knitting shops -- heck, knitting cafes, in some cities -- sprang up and a veritable industry of knitting books and magazines joined them.

The craze calmed down a bit in recent years, but Becca Smith says the current economic climate is fueling another round of "knitting is hip."
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The group, whose members hail from countries such as Germany, Korea and India, meets weekly as part of a service program. Over time, the women have become, well, close-knit.

I thought knitting was a quiet hobby, pursued by little old ladies in solitude. A visit to the RSVP center in Hollywood showed me that I was only partly right.

The women seated around the table at the Thursday morning knitting club were senior citizens all right -- from 63-year-old Agavanoush Shakhverdian to Ida Capriole, three weeks shy of 92. But they were hardly quiet.

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In the olden days, the adage “stick to your knitting” was a genteel way of telling someone to mind her own business.

Today, “stick to your knitting” isn’t quite as definitive, meaning also to stick with the craft because it is a universally recognized task of creativity, skill and patience.

So when someone tells me to take up knitting, I’m not at all offended for I would love to be able to have the dexterity and ability to knit sweaters and hats and purses and afghans of the quality that my mother was able to, and so many other knitters, are still able to produce.

I am not offended by being told to take up knitting because I envy anyone who has the ability to manipulate needles and yarn effortlessly into items that can be used for practical purposes or to be admired and enjoyed as pieces of art.

In previous columns over the years I have readily admitted my lack of expertise in all matters crafty, and with age, my crafting abilities have not improved, nor do I expect them to. There are some things that do improve with age — my knitting and sewing are not among those things.

Source: mjtimes.sk.ca