Knitting in the News: Sweaters, Saving a Store and Knitting for Thrift

A group of knitters in Jeffersonville, Indiana, has spent decades knitting for charity and says the group has sent 1,000 sweaters to the Guidepost's Knit for Kids campaign since 1996. The sweaters go all over the world, and one member reporting seeing one of their sweaters on a child in Africa who was on television. The group has knitters of all ages, and the club has been meeting for 24 years, first in a member's home and now in a church.

A woman who hadn't picked up a pair of knitting needles for 25 years is now the savior of a yarn store in the north of England. The shop has been open for 50 years but was set to close with the previous owner's retirement when Sue Goldthorpe stepped in and became a hero to all knitterkind. She's since taken up knitting again, as have her partner and her mother.

Experts in the textile industry say the trend toward knitting, sewing and all things DIY fashion is bound to continue thanks to the economy and the desire to save the planet. With people looking both to reuse things and save money, more people are going to be remaking old clothes into something new, taking up needles and making their own clothes with eco-friendlier materials that will last longer than "throwaway" clothes bought in the shops. While it's not the main reason most of us do it, it is nice to think of our hobby as a way to protect the planet (though it's not always exactly thrifty).