Baltimore Sun

The neat thing about knitting
Friendships are formed at weekly sessions

By Annie Linskey
Sun Staff
Originally published January 27, 2005

Sara Davis (left) is knitting a rug, and Amy LaPerle is knitting socks at at the weekly knitting session at Atomic Books in Hampden.

"...A core group of women in their late 20s to early 30s shows up regularly with bags of yarn and needles. Men do come from time to time, but it is mostly a crew of boisterous women who laugh and banter while their fingers move swiftly over spun wool.

"It makes something that could be a solitary activity social," said Sara Davis, 25, who was squished into a comfy chair knitting a cotton throw rug. She likes how the women will swap yarns, share patterns and help one another learn new stitches.

Knitting became trendy a few years ago when such stars as Julia Roberts were spotted clicking needles on movie sets. Trends in La La Land have shifted (having children seems to be the thing now), but the wake of this fashion left pods of knitters dedicated to the craft.

Meetup.com, a Web site that links people geographically who share interests, lists 153 social knitters in Baltimore. Several local stores sponsor learn-to-knit classes, and there is a cluster of yarn shops in the area.

And members of the Hampden group are quite talented. Woven between the dish sessions are discussions about difficult patterns and new projects. One woman has become known for her knitted socks. Another, having already completed what she estimated to be 4 billion hats, is moving on to felted purses. And one person knitted a wedding veil for her sister.

The Hampden knitters also say these evening sessions have helped define their experience of living in this city..."

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