Knit one, purl one
Ruth Burnett works on a hat during an informal get-together with other knitters last week at The Memory Tree & Yarn Branch in Monongahela. Burnett will lead the Purls of Wisdom June 10 at the Welcome Center in Claysville during World Wide Knit in Public Day.
Cathy Waller of New Eagle has been knitting for 65 years. She will lead the Chess Park Knitwits June 10 at Chess Park in Monongahela on World Wide Knit in Public Day.
Dorothy Jackson, owner of The Memory Tree & Yarn Branch in Monongahela, crochets a baby afghan during an informal get-together with other knitters last week.
A sample of the yarn that is available at The Memory Tree & Yarn Branch in Monongahela
MONONGAHELA – Once a week, knitters get together at The Memory Tree & Yarn Branch to work on their own projects, exchange ideas and, in some cases, talk more than knit with others who share their passion for fiber arts.
One woman said the chatter can become so mesmerizing that everyone usually brings projects that don’t require a lot of concentration.
But last week, even her “mindless” project was too much for the banter, as she left not long after she arrived when she lost count of her stitches.
“You know why we’re all here?” asked Cathy Waller of New Eagle, who arrived late to the party. “This is cheaper than therapy.”
Waller should know. She has been an avid knitter for 65 years after learning the craft at age 9 from her grandmother.
“I really think knitting is a form of relaxation,” said Waller, noting that it gives people something other than their daily worries to think about.
And on June 10, knitters around the world will be doing their share of relaxing when they participate in World Wide Knit in Public Day.
Ruth Burnett, whose mother, Dorothy Jackson, owns The Memory Tree & Yarn Branch on Chess Street in Monongahela, is hosting two gatherings on WWKIP Day this year, both from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Chess Park Knitwits will be at Chess Park in Monongahela, and the Purls of Wisdom will be at the Welcome Center in Claysville.
Knitters from throughout Washington and Greene counties are welcome to participate in the free events. All they need to bring is a folding chair, snacks, if desired, and, of course, their knitting. In case of bad weather, the Chess Park Knitwits will move indoors to the Memory Tree, and the Purls of Wisdom will move indoors at the Welcome Center.
“I really want 100 people,” said Burnett, who will be leading the Purls of Wisdom at the Welcome Center, with Waller hosting the Knitwits at Chess Park.
“I’m turning it into a friendly competition,” Burnett said.
Maybe not. Waller tried to bribe her fellow knitters last week into coming to Chess Park, saying she was going to bring outdoor misting fans to keep them cool. (For the record, she’s not.)
“It’s for the numbers. I’ve got to go out and beat the bushes to get people,” Waller quipped.
This is the fourth year Burnett has organized a WWKIP event in Monongahela. The first event attracted 10 knitters. Last year, there were about 20, down a tad from the previous year because, Burnett said, it was so unbearably hot and sticky.
World Wide Knit in Public Day was started in 2005 as a way for knitters to come together and enjoy each other’s company. Knitting is such a solitary act that it’s easy to knit alone without thinking about all the other knitters out there. WWKIP get-togethers encourage knitters to get out of the house – with knitting in tow – and show the general public that knitting can be a community activity.
WWKIP also is the largest knitter-run event in the world, with a volunteer or group of volunteers organizing each local event. The first year, there were about 25 local events around the world. Last year, 1,015 WWKIP Days were held in 57 countries, including 395 in the United States – the most by far of any country.
This year, 35 states and Washington, D.C., are participating in WWKIP, with Pennsylvania hosting the most with 16. Anyone who crochets also is welcome to attend either of the two local events.
Marianne Kleptner of Finleyville, who is working on a capelet, plans to participate in her first WWKIP at Chess Park. She has been coming to the Thursday gatherings at the Memory Tree for about a year and a half.
“When somebody here makes something, everybody elses likes what it is and they want to make it, too,” Kleptner said.
Burnett said she will have some extra needles and yarn at the Welcome Center, just in case any travelers, who, like Burnett, sometimes forget their knitting, want to join the fun – at least for a little while.
Burnett has been knitting for about 20 years, initially learning from a girlfriend from Ireland, who made practically all of her own clothing. The first thing Burnett ever knitted – like most people – was a scarf, then an afghan.
“Then Mom fine-tuned me,” Burnett said.
Now, she likes to make baby clothing, with samples of her work hanging throughout the store, and she knits all of her Christmas gifts.
“It’s truly an addiction. You always have a project,” she said.
Ironically, Jackson, now 86, learned how to knit about the same time as her daughter, convinced by a salesman that it may be in her best interest to do so.
“She started a yarn store without knowing how to knit,” Burnett said.
Since then, Jackson has been teaching – for free – boys and girls of all ages how to knit. “She’s taught at least 150 people, and she’s good,” Burnett said.
In fact, people will show up during business hours at the Memory Tree just to knit with Jackson.
“Once they come in, they come back,” Burnett said.
Jackson said when she opened the Memory Tree in Charleroi, a lot of men came in to the store. One was a retiree, who wanted to knit to avoid the boredom. Another was a doctor, who, Jackson said, “put us to shame.”
Waller, like Burnett, makes all of her Christmas gifts, too. She starts in February, figuring out the inch count, then does the math to determine how much she must knit each day to complete each project on her Christmas knitting list.
One year, she made 29 pairs of fingerless gloves. So far this year, she has completed two hat and scarf sets.
“I get obsessed about it,” she said.
To register for either of the World Wide Knit in Public Day events in Washington County, visit www.wwkipday.com. For more information about the local events, call the Memory Tree & Yarn Branch at 724-258-6758.