Not your Grandmother’s Knitting Club

When program specialist Judith Symonds began knitting in the hallways of her Maplewood, New Jersey, elementary school, she unwittingly hooked into a new trend.

After seeing her clicking away, both boys and girls clamored to pick up needles of their own, so Symonds stitched together an after-school program for parents

and students called Knitting Together a Community. As activities go, this one is cheap and portable, and Symonds has found it helps parents weave common ground with their children. At the same time, it also helps students learn to focus on tasks at hand.

Symonds’ school, the Seth Boyden Demonstration School, isn’t the only place this classic pastime is catching on. Students of all ages are wrapping themselves in handmade scarves and mittens—just like Julia Roberts and other celebrity knitters—as school-based clubs pop up across the country. For information about starting one at your school, contact the Craft Yarn Council at www.craftyarncouncil.com.

—Mary Robbins

Photo: Corbis