Growing interest in knitting has reached the elementary set

By Stephanie Dunnewind
Seattle Times staff reporter

	ELLEN M. BANNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Julia Stromatt, 6, of Seattle, concentrates as she tries her hand at knitting at Queen Anne's Hilltop Yarn and Needlepoint Shop, one of several local yarn shops that offer classes for children.
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Kids bring their knitting projects along on family outings, knit during recess or while teachers read stories in class. At home, they knit with a group of friends or while watching TV with their family.

Enthusiasts say the growing interest in knitting and crochet has reached the elementary-school set, who embrace yarn crafts as a fun way to create personalized scarves, slippers or American Girl doll clothes. Parents appreciate knitting's calming effect and boost to fine-motor skills.

"It's comforting, something quiet and peaceful for them to do," said Dixie Moore, who has taught children's knitting classes on Bainbridge Island for 12 years.

Several local yarn shops lead weekly classes specifically for children, with some offering summer camps. Numerous schools, including Seattle's Olympic View and Adams elementary schools and Bainbridge Island's Ordway and Wilkes elementary schools, host knitting clubs. Other children learn the craft through 4-H or scouts; some private Waldorf and Montessori schools teach knitting and crochet as part of their curriculum.

"It used to be someone older passing along the craft," said Mary Colucci, executive director of the Craft Yarn Council of America, a New York-based trade association. "Now we're finding kids are so excited, they're nudging mom or aunt to do it. That's a new phenomenon."

The yarn council doesn't track statistics on children but a 2002 survey found knitting and crochet are increasingly popular with younger women. The percentage of women under 45 who know how to knit or crochet doubled from 1996 to 2002.

	ELLEN M. BANNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES A youthful knitting circle at Hilltop Yarn and Needlepoint Shop. From left, Kate Luken Raz, 8; instructor Alexandra Immel; Isabella Immel, 6-1/2; Colleen Stromatt; Julia Stromatt, 6; Henry Immel, 8; and Mary Luken Raz, 6.

After other girls at Seattle's Pacific Crest School brought knitting for free-time work, Kate Luken Raz, 8, asked for needles and yarn for Christmas this year. "I like to give things that I made myself," Kate said. "It's fun to do."

During a recent class at Queen Anne's Hilltop Yarn and Needlepoint Shop, Kate and her 6-year-old sister, Mary, worked on purses while their mom, Terri Luken, finished a hat. Luken, who lives in Ballard, started knitting while pregnant with Kate but dropped it for lack of time after the girls were born. Now all three are learning together. "My mom helps us when we get stuck," Kate said.

Once crafters are proficient, folks like to chat as their hands fly, said Jennifer Hill, owner of Hilltop Yarn and mom of a 5-year-old. That makes knitting or crochet a great parent-child activity, where each can work on a project geared to his or her own ability.

Julia Stromatt, who just turned 6, wanted to knit after watching her mom Colleen try to pick up the craft. The Magnolia mom knew she didn't have the patience to teach Julia but liked the idea of a knitting companion.

"I figure there's only so many years she'll want to hang out together," Stromatt said.

Hilltop begins its children's classes at age 6, which is generally the age kids' hand-eye coordination improves enough to manipulate needles.

Finger knitting or simple crocheting are also easy ways to start. Children can crochet chain stitches into rings and bracelets, sometimes stringing them with beads, Colucci noted.

	The family that knits together ... Mary Luken Raz, 6, tries on a hat made by her mom, Terri Luken. They and older sister Kate, 8, take a knitting class at Hilltop Yarn and Needlepoint Shop on Queen Anne.

"It's a tactile pleasure to work with yarn and needle," Colucci said, noting that bright, textured contemporary yarns appeal to young fans.

"We've gotten so far away from basic crafts that when children are introduced to them, they just fall in love. It's so different from what kids do today with computers."

Hill, who calls knitting "meditating with your hands," says the portable craft can improve children's concentration. "A focused activity with their hands helps kids with their restless energy," she said.

At Olympic View Elementary School, about 11 girls meet once a week to knit as part of the PTA's after-school enrichment program. "You walk into that room, you instantly feel calm," said coordinator Teresa Olmsted. "They're learning a lifelong skill they can fall back on when times get rough or they're stressed."

Lynda Pack Dowell, who teaches a seventh-grade math-science block at McClure Middle School, spends about a week showing her students how to knit. "Look at it as a brain exercise," said Dowell, noting that few skills require the use of both hands at the same time. Knitting also helps students with second and third dimensional spatial relationships, as well as pattern recognition and sequencing, she said. A handful of students still bring projects to work on if they have free time. The school also offers a knitting class as part of its after-school activities program.

Though yarn crafts are still more popular with girls, instructors say boys who come without preconceived notions — viewing their creations more like building projects — make excellent knitters.

"When boys do it, they love it," said Moore, whose four children, two boys and two girls, all learned to knit.

Henry Immel, 8, whose mom Alexandra teaches Hilltop's children's classes, can rattle off a handful of male friends who knit. He's been plying his needles since age 5 and helps other students in his mom's class.

As Alexandra noted, "The whole idea of making something from nothing is great for children."

Stephanie Dunnewind: sdunnewind@seattletimes.com

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