Fiber arts groups knit community along with cozy creations

About a decade ago, we started hearing about hipsters resurrecting retro items like typewriters, record players and flannel shirts, along with those perpetual favorite pastimes of grannies everywhere — knitting and crocheting.

Google “hipster knit hat,” and up pop pages of images, descriptions, patterns and knit-it-yourself kits for sale.

But scores of area devotees will tell you there’s nothing new under the sun when it comes to practicing these time-tested fiber arts.

Information on area groups is available at pittsburghknitand crochet.com.

There’s a Laurel Highlands Knitting Guild. The Golden Dome Knitting Guild meets monthly at Trinity United Church of Christ in Greensburg. The Knotty Knitters meet Thursdays at Springdale Free Public Library.

Crochet enthusiasts take classes from Tribune-Review payroll administrator Beth Navari at Simply Made Kreations in Westmoreland Mall, Hempfield.

Another group meets weekly for a Fun Friday Knit-Along at Kathy’s Kreations in Ligonier, a yarn shop specializing in top-quality yarns, knitting and crochet needles, patterns, books and other accessories.

During a recent knit-along (where crocheters also are welcome), participants talked about the Laurel Highlands ranking No. 3 on the annual list of emerging travel destinations from travellemmings.com.

Someone posted on the store’s Facebook page, “It’s because of Kathy’s Kreations,” said group member Vina McLeod-Rudolph of Indiana, Pa.

‘It grew and grew’

Owner Kathy Zimmerman will be celebrating 40 years in business in 2020, having started in a corner of the shop when the building housed her father-in-law’s appliance store. When he retired about 15 years ago, she took over the entire space.

“It started in one little corner and it grew and grew,” she says.

Zimmerman says she started knitting in high school after she “fell in love” with Irish cable-knit fishermen’s sweaters.

“The cables all tell a story, like the ropes of the cables represent the fishermen’s nets,” she says. “I think it’s wonderful that a sweater could tell a story.”

After a few years in business, she got involved with the Knitting Guild Association. Mostly self-taught, she eventually began teaching classes all around the country and creating knitting patterns for yarn companies and magazines. Some of her patterns are available in the store.

Customers come from as far away as Washington, D.C., she says, while Fun Friday participants travel from North Huntingdon, Johnstown, Leechburg and points in between.

Being creative

Satisfying a creative urge is obviously one reason that people enjoy yarn arts, says Lorraine Hoffman of Greensburg, vice president of the Golden Dome group.

“I’m a sock-aholic; socks are one of my specialties,” Hoffman says. “There are just so many different patterns. I make them for my sisters and friends, and I have a whole drawerful of my own.”

Vicki O’Toole of Cook Township says she’s made hats and headbands for her granddaughters, along with place mats and table runners. Lately, she’s been working on a poncho, and she also makes rag dolls with yarn hair and crocheted faces.

O’Toole and her friend, Joetta Lape of Hunker, both started crocheting as young singles but gave it up when family life and careers intervened. Having rediscovered the art, both have taken classes with Navari.

“It’s really nice being able to make something,” says Lape, who recently stepped outside the comfort zone of class projects to do one on her own.

“I made a unicorn hat and scarf for my 8-year-old granddaughter,” she says. “I was really proud of it, so I took it to class and said, ‘Look, look, I did this on my own.’ The end product really gives you a sense of accomplishment.”

In that vein, Zimmerman says, she’s seen a change over the years in the types of yarns available — leading to a change in what’s being made. When she started, most yarns were a wool/acrylic blend.

“Now there’s a trend toward better quality, more elegant yarns — cashmere, silk, alpaca,” she says. “Another big trend is the yarns that have been had-painted or hand-dyed. It makes it easier to make things that fit in the color that you like.

That’s one reason that brick-and-mortar yarn stores can compete against online shopping, she says: “People want to come in and see the color, touch it and feel the yarn. Things aren’t always what they seem on the internet.

“Styles change, too. People are making scarves, hats and accessories instead of sweaters, along with capes and ponchos, less-fitted garments,” she says.

Cocooning and community

Zimmerman says outside forces have an effect on interest in traditional arts like knitting and crocheting.

“When 9/11 happened, people were cocooning,” she says. “One thing I noticed was that instead of going out, people developed an interest in things they could do at home.”

There also was an uptick of interest during the area’s so-called Snowmaggedon, the frigid winter of 2010.

“People were staying close to home, so that’s when we started our Knit-Alongs,” she says.

Community is another benefit of getting involved with arts and crafts, Hoffman says.

“(Golden Dome) has a show and share and a good exchange of ideas,” she says. “You need a group or at least one other person to help if you get stuck on a project.”

The Fun Friday group in Ligonier likes to order in lunch, making it as much a social group as a creative one.

O’Toole has a project in hand when she sits down to watch television with her husband.

“I can’t just sit there, my hands have to be doing something,” she says.