Knitting

On a rainy afternoon I put my young nieces to work sorting and folding some of the dozens of scarves I've collected over the years.They had fun holding them up to look at the patterns and see if they liked them.When one of them asked if she could have the scarf to make a dress, I discouraged her, saying I didn't think it was such a good idea.But my sister-in-law says I'm out of touch, that many designers use scarves for dresses. Can this be?Sister-in-law has it right. Designers not only use scarves for dresses but for blouses and skirts as well.

Some 35 years ago, a small group of Baltimore women formed a club to talk about sewing. They were schoolteachers, administrators and other professionals who had learned from their mothers, grandmothers and godmothers how to piece together a suit or knit a sweater.At first, it was an informal group of four who met in Beatrice Wright's home and "and snacked and talked about what we were making," recalls Adelle Foreman, a former educator who lives in Cross Keys. The women asked other women to join, and soon there were painters, calligraphers, fashion designers, quilters, embroiderers, knitters and crocheters.

Albert T. ReittererKnitting device technicianAlbert T. Reitterer, a Baltimore native who retired about a year ago as a knitting machine technician, died Wednesday of heart failure at a hospital in Charlotte, N.C. He was 66.The resident of Mooresville, N.C., had worked since 1980 for Monarch Knitting Co. in Charlotte. For many years before that, he had worked for slipcover maker Comfy Manufacturing Co., first in Baltimore and later in the Carolinas.Mr. Reitterer was a graduate of Polytechnic Institute and a member of Moose International.

For an hour every week, sixth-graders at Burleigh Manor Middle School set aside reading, writing and arithmetic and take up homemade knitting needles and skeins of yarn.The 11- and 12-year-olds at the Ellicott City School have been creating squares for afghans since November. The lap-sized warmers will be given to Howard County's retirement home residents to fulfill the community service requirement for graduation from a Maryland middle school.The knitting itself takes place during their "discovery period."

When a local yarn shop closed its doors more than a year ago, it brought together 19 former patrons who wanted to polish their knitting skills while making a contribution to the community.Members of a Close Knit Group will celebrate their first anniversary tomorrow evening with a party at the Linthicum Library after their regular 6:30 meeting.The local group is affiliated with the National Knitting Guild.In the past year, the guild has presented programs and workshops on finishing, machine knitting, weaving and knitting dog hair, creating hand-made buttons and felting hats.

SATURDAY WILL BE a good day to enjoy the fellowship of neighbors while attending two popular community events, the Linthicum Community Fair and the St. Philip Neri Craft Fair.The Linthicum Community Fair festivities begin at 9 a.m. with a parade of local talent, the Oriole Bird and many floats. Children in grades one through six are welcome to decorate their bicycles and participate in the parade. They should bring their decorated bikes to the old Andover High School by 8:30 a.m.The parade will proceed north on Hammonds Ferry Road from the school to the fair grounds.

Acrylic, one of those synthetics that snobs love to hate, is enjoying a fashion romp.Cleverly disguised as a jungle cat, beaver, mink, lamb or something feathery, acrylic began gamboling down runways several months ago.Today it's on best-seller lists from retailers all over the globe.When this once-lowly fiber, derived from petroleum byproducts, made its debut in 1950, it quickly became known as a knit that pilled, yellowed and had all the appeal of plastic chain mail.Those characteristics are history.

Attention volunteers. Brownie Troop 118 in Long Reach Village needs knitting volunteers to help with a community project, "Warm Up America."The Brownies are going to knit 9-inch "granny squares" and stitch them together to make afghans, which will be given to Howard County shelters for women and the homeless.With the material, patterns and moral support of Katharine Schatzer and her business, Needle Play, in Hickory Ridge Shopping Center, the girls have been collecting leftover yarns and needles from families and friends to begin their project at their meeting in the Phelps Luck Elementary School, next Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Volunteers from the Knitters Guild will attend to help the Brownies.

With only 10 more days till Christmas, Viola Waldron's knitting needles finally are still, having completed scores of miniature doll sweaters for her annual charity project.Yesterday, the 77-year-old Ellicott City resident finished her last batch of recycled dolls, making a total of 80 she has donated this year to the Christian Services of Howard County Inc. thrift shop.From there, the dolls will be distributed to children whose parents can't afford new ones."There are so many people who need help and who can't afford the new dolls that are so expensive," says Mrs. Waldron, who lives with her 80-year-old husband, William.

Valley Forge, Pa. -- It began five or six years ago: Barbara Lande can't say exactly when. The pastime became a passion, the diverted now possessed. In this, she was not alone.In a hotel ballroom the knitters sat, a new breed of conventioneer, packing their woolly desires in canvas totes, wicker baskets and quilted bags resting at their feet. Many came to share their own personal stories and the techniques they have relied on. Most hoped to learn from the experts and specialists, each similarly hooked -- by a ball of yarn and a pair of needles.

Nine-year-old Lyta Gallant puts her knitting before her chocolate brownie. And she loves chocolate brownies. Lyta, a student at Hammond Elementary School, learned to knit at the 100th meeting of Columbia Sip and Knit, an open-invitation knitting club for beginners and pros alike. But surrounding her weren't the usual suspects. There's Dorothy, the library science teacher, Maura, the engineer, and Adrienne, the construction project engineer who comes to the meetings so she can talk to women.

When the daily grind of a busy career got in the way of Susan Wolcott's dream, it was time to make a decision. Five years ago, she left her Fairfax, Va., job in corporate health care and headed for the hills of Washington County in Western Maryland. "I took a total risk," said Wolcott, 56, "but for me, it was not about the money." It was about pursuing, along with her sister, a viable knitting business that includes organized stitching getaways, an online pattern company and a retail store in the front two rooms of her 18th-century house in Funkstown.

Artist Laure Drogoul totes her "portable apparatus for orchestral knitting" in an old, white suitcase. Inside are 12 balls of yarn leading to 12 knitting projects. At performances in Baltimore and New York havens for contemporary craft, Drogoul's device connects knitters to one another, and by way of her soundboard, to a galaxy of domestic harmony. If you go Sabrina Gschwandtner reads from her book KnitKnit: Profiles + Projects from Knitting's New Wave and will introduce Laure Drogoul, who will perform her "Orchestral Apparatus for Musical Knitting" from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow at Atomic Pop, 3620 Falls Road in Hampden.

10868 York Road, Cockeysville 410-628-9276 blacksheepyarnshop.com Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday Summer might not seem like the time to think about scarves, sweaters and mittens, but this new yarn shop is keeping its customers in stitches. Joyce Norton-McCormick of Ruxton and Tracy Russell of Roland Park opened the store June 1, when they expected business to be slow. But they say they have been surprised at the number of people who have dropped in to buy yarn, needles, patterns and knitting accessories.

Yingling-Ridgely Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7472, a nonprofit service organization, will hold an Easter Egg Hunt and Party from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. April 1 at the post, 4225 VFW Lane (off Old Columbia Pike and Autumn Hill Drive), in Ellicott City. Children to age 10 are invited. Admission is free. Information: 410-465-4240. Centennial to present `Oklahoma!' in April Centennial High School will present Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1943 musical, Oklahoma! at 7:30 p.m. April 18, 19, 20 and 21 and at 2 p.m. April 21 in the school auditorium.

The Tiber Hudson Stream Team, which conducted five cleanup sessions Saturday mornings along the Tiber Hudson River and its banks in Ellicott City's historic district, has reported removing 2,819 pounds of trash from the river in the course of its fall project. Volunteers from Howard Community College and other adults participated in the project, which was sponsored by Friends of the Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway Inc. in partnership with the Howard County Tourism Office, Ellicott City Restoration Foundation, community residents and business owners, who helped pay for supplies.

Karen Thiem and Cindy Jones, owners of All About Yarn in Columbia, met in 2002, at a practice for Special Olympics basketball. The women soon discovered they had a lot in common. Both lived in Columbia, and both had daughters with special needs. And both liked to knit. "We would sit in a corner and knit and talk," Thiem recalled. "We've both been knitting since we were 10 or 11." One thing they discussed was what the future held for their daughters. "We talked about what are we going to do with the girls," Jones said.

Mount Hebron High School's spring musical, Damn Yankees, will be performed at 7 p.m. March 29, 30 and 31 and April 1. Tickets, which cost $9, will be available in the school cafeteria from 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. or can be reserved by calling 410-313-2880. The show is suitable for all ages. More than 140 students are involved in the production, which will be held in the school's recently renovated auditorium. Legal services help at senior center Attorney Charles Jerome Ware will be at Ellicott City Senior Center, 9401 Frederick Road, for the 60 Plus Wills and Legal Screening Program from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Like a virtual knitting bee for sharp women, Yarn Harlot (www.yarnharlot.ca) is one of the best of an ever-expanding bunch of Knit Lit blogs. With hipster chicks routinely packing needles and skeins in their messenger bags, ready to whip up scarves and hats at the first dull moment, cyberspace is greedy for a quick-witted dame who knows her Back Lifted Increase from her Front Purl Cross. And the Yarn Harlot delivers. The blog offers practical tips and clever patterns from a lifelong knitter, but more beguilingly, it captures the highs and lows that can accompany pursuit of almost any passion, not just those of the wooly persuasion.

Anne Hawkins, who sold sweaters and blankets she knitted and then signed the checks over to charity, died of emphysema Dec. 14 at Charlestown Retirement Community. She was 79. A retired bookkeeper and accountant, she savored liberal Democratic politics and social causes. After moving to Baltimore in 1991, she found she could sell her knitting at the Woman's Industrial Exchange, and she gave the proceeds to charities such as the Salvation Army, the Fuel Fund of Maryland and Beacon House in Washington, D.C. "She didn't suffer fools and hated sloppy sentimentalism," said her husband, John Hawkins, a retired public school math teacher.